A Howl in the Dark
by goofnutgav
Summary: My life was simple. Go to work, do my job, make arrests, and go home. Which made things nice and simple for me. But I got involved in a case that not only forced me to leave the only life I have ever known, but it made me discover something about myself I never knew of in my entire life.
1. Chapter 1

Location Unknown, Former United States Of America, 2215.

I was struggling to crawl through the snowy wasteland, feeling pain and agony as I was slowly dying in the freezing cold from my brutal injuries. Finally, I slumped to the ground and rolled over on my back.

 _"It's over Jack...you've lost everything and they're all fucking dead, so why are you still pushing on?"_ I thought to myself as I recalled how my life turned out this way.

* * *

Freeze City (Formerly Los Angeles), Former United States Of America, 2214.

 _"Mom! Dad!"  
_

 _"Oh fuck no! Mom, Dad, it's all my fault,"_

 _"Don't worry, they are already in Paradise, now wake up Jack!"_

I gasped awake as I sat up suddenly, breathing heavily, my heart racing from the same nightmare I'd been having for years.

 _"Son of a bitch, I'm really tired of this shit,"_ I thought bitterly as I got out of bed, took a pack of cigarettes, and lit one up to calm myself down as I headed in to take a shower.

Once I was done, I got out of the shower, brushed my teeth, gelled the front of my short black hair into a spiky style, and I assessed myself in the mirror.

My refection showed a 42 year old white male, athletically built, cold dark blue eyes, and five a-clock shadow. But what was really noticeable about me, was not only many scars on my torso and a large tribal tattoo of flames on my right arm, but also that there was a large scar on the left side of my face that ran down from the top of my forehead, crossed over my left eye, and ended at my jaw. Looking at my scarred face brought back horrifying memories of that night and I quickly buried them, not wanting to remember.

I left the bathroom and went to my dresser, took out my usual clothes. I put on a pair of blue jeans and a white t-shirt, then added a black belt, dark brown work boots, and a black leather jacket. I put on my sunglasses and grabbed my keys, phone and wallet as I was leaving my apartment and headed out to my antique black 1967 Chevrolet Impala.

I started my car and the engine roared to life. As I drove to the station, I thought about last night's nightmare and how the deep voice and the large black dog with two different colored eyes hadn't been there before, which made me wonder if it was either a warning, or a repressed memory I had blocked out since that night. I shook my thoughts away as I pulled into the parking lot, found a space and headed into the station, passing my fellow brothers and sisters in blue as I entered the mens locker room. I headed to my locker and opened it, took off my jacket, put on my shoulder holster, handcuff pouch, and badge. Retrieving a lockbox from the top shelf, I unlocked it with a key from my ring and took out my Sig Sauer P226R, secured in the holster, put the box back up on the shelf and put my jacket back on. Closing my locker, I headed out to the office I shared with my partner. As I opened the door to our office, my partner and childhood friend, Hubb Lebowski looked up and greeted me with a nod.

"Well, looks like Detective Jackson Michael Walker decided to join the land of the living," Hubb teased as I took off my jacket and slung it on the back of my chair, sat down, took a bottle of whiskey out of my desk drawer, and poured a glass.

"Shut the fuck up, Hubb. My head is pounding and I haven't been getting any good sleep for the past few weeks now, so can it with the jokes 'cause I'm not in the mood," I snapped in irritation as I took a sip from my glass and lit up a smoke.

"Jesus Jack, excuse me for wanting to lighten the mood," Hubb retorted.

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I said, "Shit...sorry Hubb, I didn't mean to snap at you, I just haven't been getting any good sleep for a few weeks now, and combine that with the workload the Captain's been throwing at us lately...can you blame me for feeling a little on edge?"

"You have a point Jack," Hubb agreed.

"So, has anything happened while I was "Not among the living?" I asked and took a sip from my glass.

"Well, another supply train was looted last night by a gang," Hubb explained and I grumbled irritably in response.

"Fucking kids, thinking they own these streets. Well, it's not like the Goddamn Nobles are any better," I growled as I dragged on my smoke.

There was a knock on the door and Hubb yelled out, "Come in." A uniformed officer entered our office.

"Sorry to bother you Detectives, but you're needed in interrogation room 1," the officer stated as he rested his hands on his duty belt.

"For what?" I questioned, my cold stare and gravely voice making the officer swallow nervously.

"A drunk was brought in after firing a loaded weapon in a crowded street and killing a large white dog, but the weird thing is that the perp keeps saying that it wasn't a dog," the officer explained.

"Odd...did he say anything else?" Hubb asked.

"No, nothing after that," the officer clarified as Hubb and I stood up.

"Well, lets see what our perp has to say," I stated as I snuffed out my cigarette butt in my ashtray, put on my jacket, and Hubb and I left our office.

Hubb and I walked down the hallway and into the interrogation room. The officer inside, guarding the door nodded to us. As we entered the room. I got a good look at our perp.

The person that was cuffed and sitting at the table was a man in his mid-fifties with gray hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a tan trenchcoat that concealed a holster for the rifle and ammo that was on the table, along with a fedora hat. I wrinkled my nose at the heavy smell of alcohol that was coming off the man and I could see from his glassy eyes that he was intoxicated.

"Hello sir. I'm Detective Hubb Lebowski and this is my partner Detective Jack Walker. We would like to ask you some questions about the shooting," Hubb said, but the man didn't reply.

"Did he have anything else on him?" I asked the officer that was in the room with us.

"Yeah. He had a wallet on him, and he seems to be a cop. Take a look," the officer stated as he gave Hubb a wallet and we looked through it, seeing the man's ID and a badge that bore the rank of Sheriff and said 'Kyrios Sheriff's Department'.

I'd heard of the destruction of Kyrios a few years ago. Apparently, someone accidentally started a forest fire and it grew out of control until it burned the entire town to the ground and killed nearly everyone in it.

"Quent Yaiden...so tell us, what brings the Sheriff of Kyrios to our humble city?" Hubb questioned, but Quent didn't respond.

"That's some heavy firepower you have there Mr. Yaiden, but we doubt you came all this way for hunting," I said and Quent started speaking.

"What did you do with it? Where's the animal I put down?" Quent inquired.

"So, he finally speaks. As for the animal, it's dead apparently," Hubb stated, causing Quent to look up in shock as Hubb continued, "The carcass will be disposed of here."

Suddenly, Quent slammed his fist on the table and yelled, "That's impossible! There's not a fucking chance in hell that thing is dead! I have to see it with my own eyes! Don't either of you get it?! It's a wolf!"

"Are you fucking serious? You really think that dog is a wolf?" I questioned skeptically, wondering if this man was a little off in the head.

"It may look like a dog, but it's not! It's a wolf! Detectives, neither of you believe that we wiped those things from the face of the planet, do you?!" Quent exclaimed.

"The last sighting of a wolf was over 200 years ago, just before the world was destroyed by nuclear warheads when World War 3 broke out. Just how do you propose that they survived all these centuries? The mountains and forests had been stripped bare before the world was destroyed, there's nowhere on Earth they could live or hide-" Hubb stated, but Quent quickly stood up and knocked the chair to the floor.

"They're all around us! Those fucking demons have just put us all under some kinda spell! These wolves exist and we have to destroy them all!" Quent exclaimed in fury.

"Okay, first of all, sit the fuck down! Second, lay off the hooch because you are clearly drunk and have no idea what the hell you are saying! I believe in evidence, and there is none that proves any part of what the hell you are saying! This is my one and only warning. If you ever fire that gun again, you are looking at prison time for discharging a firearm in a public place," I threatened as I leaned in close and glared coldly at the clearly drunken man.

Suddenly, I felt a strange feeling of wanting to tear Quent's throat out with my teeth, and I quickly left the room, taking out a smoke and lighting it up.

 _"What the hell is going on with me? It's like I almost felt like a wild animal in there,"_ I thought quizzically just as Hubb left the room.

"Are you okay, Jack? You looked like you wanted to tear that man's throat out," Hubb asked in concern.

"I'm fine. I've just been feeling on edge these past few days," I dismissed with a wave of my hand.

"C'mon, we need to go see Cher and have her take a look at the dog," Hubb said as we started walking down the hallway.

"What about Mr. Yaiden?" I inquired.

"He'll be spending time in the drunk tank and will be released since no one is pressing charges," Hubb explained as we approached the lab.

"Fucking hell...there's our justice system for you," I spat out bitterly as we entered the lab and saw Cher working with her other colleagues.

Cher had long blonde hair up in a bun, and glasses, but not even the lab coat could conceal the fact that she was a beautiful woman. When she saw us, she walked over.

"Hubb, Jack, it's good to see you," Cher greeted as we approached her.

"It's good to see you too, Cher," Hubb said awkwardly as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Cher," I greeted with a nod and looked at a large tank behind her that had a woman dressed in a jumpsuit, floating inside.

As I looked at the woman, I felt a strange pull that seemed to be drawing me to her and I walked over to take a closer look. The woman's red eyes and soft peaceful smile seemed to wake up something inside me.

"Jack?" I heard Cher speaking to me and I quickly snapped out of it.

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked in confusion as I looked back at Hubb and Cher, who were staring at me in concern.

"I was just saying that we were going to take a look at this dog that everybody is talking about," Cher clarified.

I nodded as we walked out of the lab and headed to our destination.

"I figured that this sort of thing was in your jurisdiction," Hubb commented to Cher while we were walking down the hallway.

"So, it's alive?" Cher asked us.

"Just barely, but it's only a matter of time," Hubb remarked.

"That sounds like the two of us," Cher stated as I lit up a smoke.

"We're not over yet...all we have to do is keep trying," Hubb tried to reason.

"I'm not so sure," Cher said doubtfully as we entered the room where the dog was caged up.

I tensed up when I saw someone standing in front of the cage and I announced, "Hey! You there! This is a restricted area! Identify yourself!"

The person jumped as I called out, and he turned around to look at us. The stranger was a 18 year old white male with curly hair and brown eyes. He was wearing a collar around his neck that was a bit big on him, a black-striped, mustard colored, short-sleeved hoodie with black stripes, over a black long-sleeved shirt, gray sweatpants with black stripes, and sneakers. The man smiled sheepishly and started speaking.

"Oh, uh, heh, sorry. I was looking for cleaning supplies and I guess I must've gotten lost," the man explained as he rubbed the back of his head.

"A janitor, huh? Just go out that door next to you and the place you're looking for is on the right," Hubb pointed out helpfully, and the man nodded gratefully.

"Oh, is it? Uh, thanks!" the man said as he waved once and started to leave.

I didn't know if it was just me, but as the man left, he looked at me briefly and it seemed that in just a second, confusion, shock, and realization crossed his face. Cher, Hubb, and I walked over to the cage and Cher leaned forward to examine the dog. The dog was large with snow white fur, and I could see that there was a graze on its left hind leg, along with a bullet wound in its right shoulder.

"So, do you really think it's a wolf?" Hubb asked Cher curiously.

"I don't know, I've never seen a real one before. But if it is a wolf, It may be what's causing the sudden reaction in Cheza," Cher stated thoughtfully, causing Hubb to roll his eyes and I knew what was coming next.

"Oh God, not Cheza again," Hubb groaned in exasperation.

"What the hell does that mean?" Cher questioned in slight offense.

"It's because of her that you and I separated," Hubb grumbled bitterly.

"Stop acting like an idiot Hubb. You and Jack bring this up to the lab," Cher said sternly.

"We'll have someone else do it later. Dogs and I don't get along all that well. I'm kinda allergic to them," Hubb admitted while he scratched the back of his neck sheepishly.

Cher let out an irritated sigh and said, "This is the reason why we'll never work."

"I don't know, maybe it is just a matter of time," Hubb stated as he and Cher started to leave the room, but they looked at me when they saw that I was still standing in front of the cage.

"Jack, you coming?" Hubb asked me.

"In a minute...I just wanted to get a good look at the dog Mr. Yaiden was so worked up about," I replied as I dropped my cigarette butt and ground it out with my shoe. I knelt down, and examined the animal more closely.

"Okay, I'll meet you later," Hubb said, and he and Cher left the room.

"Hmmm...I wonder if you are a wolf? Oh God, what the fuck am I saying? You're probably either a husky mix or an Alaskan Malamute with wolf traits," I mumbled under my breath as I stood up and left the room.

* * *

Hige waited until the man with the faint scent of a wolf left the room and he walked over to the cage, kneeling down and grinning at the white wolf that was locked up.

"Damn, you really screwed up. I mean, I've seen one of us get caught before, but never this badly," Hige stated as the wolf opened its eyes and looked at him.

"I can get the hell out of here whenever I feel like it," the white wolf grumbled dryly.

"Uh-huh, so then why are you in there?" Hige asked inquisitively.

"No reason, I just...needed a place to rest for awhile, that's all," the wolf stated and Hige let out a slight chuckle.

"I'm Hige, it's nice to meet you," Hige introduced himself.

"Why are you in here anyway?" the wolf questioned.

"Eh, no reason, it smelt like something interesting was going to happen and I just followed my nose, you know? Besides, I've got nowhere else to go," Hige explained.

"That's not your true form, why do you hide yourself?" the wolf pointed out in confusion.

"So I don't end up where you are. These people are terrified of us, so if we look like them, they pretty much leave us alone," Hige said, but it didn't sit well with the white wolf.

"You're living a lie, just so you can die a shitty death in this fucking city?!" the wolf snarled in fury.

"Gotta do what you can to survive, right? Keep lookin' like that and you'll be back here in no time; it draws too much attention," Hige remarked, causing the wolf to sit up quickly and bare his teeth.

"Have you given up your damn pride as a wolf?!" the wolf yelled in frustration, causing Hige to blink once until he smiled slightly.

"You're a strange one, all right. But having pride doesn't count for much if you're dead, you know?" Hige stated, which made the wolf stare at him in surprise and realization.

Suddenly, loud alarms broke out, prompting the white wolf to latch his jaws on the bars and bend them enough so that he could slip out.

* * *

I kept moving quickly to the armory as other officers moved past me with MP5A2s that had surefire flashlight attachments, M4A1 Carbines with trijicon acog scopes and tactical flashlight attachments, and Mossberg 500 shotguns. I reached the armory where officers were fitting themselves with dark navy blue jumpsuits, black elbow and knee pads, black combat boots, black gloves, black balaclavas, black tactical vests with the word SWAT on the front and back of the vest in bold white letters. The vests had ammo pouches, flashbang grenades, cs gas grenades, and zip tie cuffs on them. The SWAT team was putting on black tactical helmets with military goggles on them when they saw me quickly approaching.

"Walker, good to see you," the SWAT Captain I knew as Frank greeted me.

"Hey Frank, suiting up I see?" I inquired as I took off my leather jacket, grabbed a black vest that said police on it, put it on, and put my jacket back on before I took a Mossberg 500 and loaded it with four 00 buckshot shells.

"Yeah. That gang that has been looting supply trains and Noble provisions hit again. We just got the call. So, what do you say Lieutenant? We gonna do this like old times?" Frank asked in anticipation.

"You don't have to call me by that rank Frank, I'm not with SWAT anymore. Though, I wouldn't mind working alongside my former SWAT Captain," I said as I racked the pump and left the armory, heading to the entrance.

While I was rushing through the hallway, I nearly bumped into the young man I had seen earlier in the room with the dog, but now he wasn't alone. The second man looked to be about 17 with long dark shaggy brown hair and steely blue eyes. The man was wearing white long sleeved shirt that was covered by a black/grey jacket with the sleeves rolled up, blue jeans, and black converse sneakers.

"Oh...Detective, I wasn't expecting to see you again," the man with the hoodie greeted me in surprise.

"You again. Listen, you and your friend need to evacuate for your own safety," I instructed seriously.

"Sure," the man in the hoodie agreed as he and the second man started to leave.

As I started to exit the building, I heard someone calling for me and I looked to see that it was the second man.

"Yeah? Can I help you?" I asked the second man in confusion.

"What's your name?" the second man asked in a smooth calm voice.

"Jack. My name is Jack Walker," I replied as I turned around and left the building.

As I left, I met up with Hubb and Cher, who perked up when they saw me.

"Jack, there you are. Do you have any idea what's going on?" Hubb asked me.

"More Noble provisions have been looted again by that fucking gang that has been causing a lot of trouble lately," I explained and looked to see Frank and his SWAT team getting into a armored Bearcat truck and driving off with the lights and sirens on.

As I looked out into the distance, Hubb suddenly started scratching like crazy.

"Hubb, what the fuck is wrong with you?" I questioned quizzically.

"Ugh...my allergies are acting up for some damn reason," Hubb complained and looked to his left to see the two men I encountered earlier, the man with long shaggy hair staring back at us coldly for a second before looking forward and walking away.

Suddenly, an officer came running up to us with a look of panic on his face.

"Detectives! That big dog, it just disappeared!" the officer exclaimed to us

"What?! How the fuck did that happen?!" I yelled in disbelief, and Hubb, Cher, and I quickly ran into the building.

We ran into the room where the dog had been locked up and we were stunned when we saw that the cage was empty, containing only a bloodstain. I could see that two of the bars of the cage were bent enough for the animal to escape.

"It's fucking gone...do you think someone stole it?" Hubb asked Cher.

"Maybe...or maybe it escaped on it's own," Cher theorized thoughtfully.

"Something doesn't make sense. If it escaped, how did it get out of the building without someone noticing it? We're talking about a large white dog that's injured for Christ's sake, someone would've noticed something like that wandering the building," I stated as I knelt down and examined the bars, seeing the teeth marks on it.

"Look at this, teeth marks. Our animal definitely used it's jaws to bend the bars to escape, but where did it go after that?" I wondered as I stood up and lit a smoke.

 _"Where did you go, my large furry friend?"_ I thought in confusion as I inhaled the tobacco and felt the nicotine calm my nerves.

* * *

"Your wounds, have they healed?" Hige asked while he and the white wolf were resting near a ledge.

"Yeah. After all, it's a full moon tonight," the white wolf said.

"So, why did you come to this shitty town anyway?" Hige asked curiously.

"I smelled something, the scent of lunar flowers. It's here in this city," the white wolf explained.

"Yeah, I know. My nose can tell when a dog is taking a shit 10 kilometers away," Hige stated proudly.

"Yeah? That must really suck," the white wolf remarked dryly and Hige chuckled sheepishly.

"Yeah, sure does," Hige agreed and saw the white wolf smile slightly, making him grin in response.

"So why the hell did you escape with me?" the white wolf asked.

"Eh, I don't know, I just felt like it, I guess. Besides, you seem kinda interesting. So, what's next? Where are you heading?" Hige questioned.

"To Paradise...there isn't any moonlight in this place," the white wolf stated which caught Hige's attention.

"Paradise huh...that sounds like fun," Hige said.

"My name is Kiba," Kiba introduced himself as a breeze appeared.

"Well, it's good to meet you Kiba," Hige said and he frowned as he thought about the cop he and Kiba encountered earlier.

"You're thinking about that cop we saw before, right? Did you catch his scent?" Kiba asked.

"Yeah...I did...It was weird. He had the scent of a wolf but it was really faded and covered with the smell of tobacco and humans," Hige replied thoughtfully.

"What do you think? Could he be one of us?" Kiba inquired curiously.

"The scent coming off of him was too consistent, so I have to say yes, but he didn't react at all when he saw me. Maybe he doesn't know who he truly is, and was raised by humans all his life," Hige theorized thoughtfully.

Kiba didn't say anything and started thinking about that cop, Jack Walker. He most certainly had the scent of a wolf and the man didn't seem to be able to tell that he knew they were wolves, so it was quite possible that Jack didn't know what he was.

Kiba started to drift off to sleep, wondering when he would be able to find his next clue that would lead him to Paradise.


	2. Chapter 2

Freeze City Police Department, Freeze City, California, Former United States Of America, 2214.

I was in the office with Hubb, sipping my glass of whiskey and smoking as I looked at the photos of the big white dog that were on my desk.

I still couldn't wrap my head around the fact that the animal somehow escaped the station without being noticed. It was like it just vanished into thin air.

"Jack? Are you okay? You have been staring at those photos for hours now," Hubb inquired in concern.

"I still don't fucking get it Hubb...this animal didn't just disappear, so where did it go? And how the hell did it get out of the building without being noticed?" I questioned thoughtfully.

"Well, maybe someone did notice it and didn't report it yet," Hubb pitched in helpfully.

"No...I interviewed everyone that was still in the building last night. No one saw this animal get out of the building at all, which is something I just can't wrap my damn head around," I grumbled in frustration.

"Well, I'm going to call Cher and see if she has any ideas," Hubb notified me as he picked up his cell phone and called the lab.

"Hello?...yes. This is Detective Hubb Lebowski, I would like to speak to Dr. Cher Degre...yes, I'll hold," Hubb spoke on the phone and waited until he continued, " Hey Cher, it's Hubb...c'mon Cher, does it really matter what title they call me by?...*sigh*...there's something that Jack and I need you to see...you'll see, it's down in the morgue."

As Hubb said his goodbyes, I stood up and walked over to the coat rack, grabbing my jacket and putting it on just as Hubb put on his fedora. As we left the room, I decided to deal with this tension that was between Cher and Hubb. Ever since Hubb and Cher's marriage fell apart due to work and they divorced, there had been nothing but an awkward tension between them whenever they spoke to each other.

"So, you and Cher are friends again?" I inquired to Hubb.

"Well...I wouldn't say that we are friends again, but more like acquaintances. What are you implying?" Hubb questioned with a frown.

"I'm not implying anything. It's just that there is either an awkward silence or nothing but fucking tension whenever you two talk to each other," I pointed out as I lit up another smoke.

"Shit, is it really that noticeable? Sorry Jack, it's just been...rough...trying to patch things up with her," Hubb admitted sheepishly as we approached the morgue.

"Listen...I get that it's not easy, but it's almost been a year now. You two should just talk or hell, I don't know, go out to dinner so that things will get better," I suggested helpfully.

"Well, the anniversary of our divorce is coming up soon, so I might take you up on your suggestion to have dinner with her," Hubb agreed as we entered the morgue, and Cher looked at us when we entered.

"Hey Hubb, Jack. So, what did you two want me to see?" Cher asked as we approached and the three of us headed to a table that had a sheet covering a dead body.

Hubb removed the sheet to reveal the body of a kid of Latino decent who was about 12 years old. I shook my head slightly at the poor soul, seeing an animal bite mark on his left shoulder.

"He's much too young..." I trailed off under my breath, memories of my time on the streets coming back.

"Sorry, humans aren't really my specialty," Cher stated.

"He was one of the kids involved in the warehouse theft. He fell from the roof trying to escape," Hubb explained as Cher leaned forward slightly to get a good look, and her eyes narrowed when she saw the bite mark on the John Doe's shoulder.

"Are these...tooth marks from a dog?" Cher questioned in confusion.

"The injuries are still pretty fresh, which is why we called you to see if you had any thoughts about this. What do you think?" I asked Cher, who looked at me and narrowed her eyes skeptically.

"Jack, are you saying that the dog that escaped did this?" Cher questioned in slight disbelief.

"We don't know. We should've taken molds of it's teeth when we had the chance," I grumbled as I dropped my cigarette butt and took off my shades, pinching the bridge of my nose to ease the pounding headache that was forming and I put my shades back on.

"Hm...I wonder why it hasn't been found yet? With a dog that big running wild around the city, you'd think someone would've reported it," Cher mumbled in confusion.

"Maybe they really are trying to deceive us," Hubb stated under his breath which caught me and Cher's attention.

"Hubb, what the fuck are you going on about? Oh Jesus, please don't tell me you're starting to consider what Mr. Yaiden was babbling about," I groaned slightly.

"What the hell is Jack talking about?" Cher questioned.

"Forget it, it's impossible," Hubb said quickly, not wanting to sound crazy.

"Oh God, Hubb," Cher sighed irritably.

"Hm?" Hubb let out a noise of confusion.

"Am I down here just because you wanted to see me?" Cher asked suspiciously.

"Uh...maybe just a little," Hubb admitted in embarrassment.

"You never change, do you?" Cher asked dryly.

Cher looked at the box that had John Doe's personal affects. She reached down to examine what appeared to be gray dog hairs on the clothes, and looked at the cage that once held the big white dog.

"Well, I don't know about you two, but I'm getting a drink. Hubb, I'll see you later," I declared and left the morgue.

* * *

I drove to my favorite spot to think and I pulled up next to the curb, getting out and taking a quick smoke break.

As I was puffing on my smoke, I thought about the current case and the disappearance of the big white dog. From what I could gather, the dog broke out during all the chaos and somehow left the building without being noticed by anyone, and that John Doe had teeth marks on his shoulder, along with what appeared to be gray fur on his personal affects.

 _"What the fuck is going on? This whole thing is getting bizarre,"_ I thought as I dropped my cigarette butt and reached back into the car to take out my bag lunch.

Just before I took a bite of my sandwich, I heard whining in front of me, and I looked down to to see a light brown dog with four silver bangles on it's right foreleg. The dog was looking up at my sandwich with a begging expression and whining at me.

"Oh...hey boy, I didn't see you there. you hungry?" I asked the dog, who's tail started to wag.

"Yeah, I thought so. Here," I said, and I broke the ham and cheese sandwich in half.

I gave the half to the dog, who ate it and I scratched the dog's neck, who closed his eyes and whined in bliss.

"You're pretty tame for a stray," I commented, and when I didn't see any collar on him, I added, "I don't see any collar, so who used to own you?"

My phone suddenly rang and taking it out of my jacket pocket, I answered it.

"This is Detective Walker, go ahead," I spoke into the phone.

"Hey Jack, it's Hubb. Do you think you can come back to the station?" Hubb asked me.

"Sure. I've just finished my break, so I'm heading back," I stated and hung up after Hubb said his goodbyes.

I started walking to the driver side door when I noticed the dog was following me.

"Sorry boy, you can't come with me. You'll be sent to the city pound if I bring you with me and I'm sure you wouldn't like it there," I said, and the dog surprisingly sat down and cocked his head at me.

"What the hell? I've gotta go easy on the fucking hooch, 'cause I could've sworn you understood me there for a second," I mumbled as I scratched my head in confusion and got into my car.

As I approached the station, I saw my fellow SWAT officers and military solders shoving well known gang members into prison vans in the parking lot.

I pulled up into the parking lot and stopped the car, got out and locked the doors before I entered the building and walked to the office.

"Hey Jack," Hubb greeted as I took off my leather jacket and hung it on the rack.

"Hey Hubb. Do you know what's going on outside? Because I've been seeing SWAT and the military out in force today," I asked.

"Apparently all the gangs in the city are being rounded up and taken into custody in retaliation for the warehouse raid," Hubb explained as I sat down and poured a glass of whiskey.

"Well shit, guess those fucking punks are finally getting what they deserve," I remarked after I took a sip from my glass.

"Yeah...anyway, I'm gonna call Cher and see if she got any results from the dog hair that was found on our John Doe," Hubb notified me as he called Cher.

"Hey Cher, I just wanted to call and see if you found anything on those hairs...a third set?...what the hell is going on? There isn't anywhere for them to hide...I'm not obsessed Cher, don't worry. I'm probably just looking for another excuse to see you," Hubb quipped and he flinched when I heard a click.

"Real smooth, Detective Romeo. So what was that about a third set?" I inquired.

"Apparently there was a second set of dog hairs next to the cage, but that isn't what's really odd. Cher did some tests and the hairs that came from the big white dog didn't match the hairs found on our John Doe," Hubb explained, and I took off my shades and gently rubbed my eyes.

"Jesus Christ...seriously Hubb, what the fuck is going on here? This case is taking a really bizarre turn," I wondered as I finished my glass of whiskey and lit up a smoke.

"I don't know, but I think it's time to track down that drunk," Hubb stated as he stood up and put on his fedora.

"Wait? Mr. Yaiden? Don't tell me you believe what that man was rambling about?" I questioned skeptically as I stood up and put on my jacket.

"I don't, but he seems to know something," Hubb said as we left the room.

When we left the building and headed to my car, I stopped when I heard howling in the distance. I felt a strange sense of sorrow as I heard the howl of despair and I shook it off as I kept walking to my car and got in with Hubb, starting the Impala and driving out of the parking lot.

* * *

It took a while, but we managed to find out where Mr. Yaiden was, and now we approached the hotel room. Hubb knocked on the door and the door opened to show Mr. Yaiden peering out at us.

"Well look who it is, Detective Dandy and Mr. Skeptic," Quent greeted mockingly. I glared at him coldly for his attitude.

"Okay Mr. Yaiden, if you're done being a smartass, we need to ask you some questions," I stated.

"And there's something you two need to see," Quent said.

Suddenly, I had a really bad feeling in my gut that something was happening back at the station.

"Jack, are you alright?" Hubb asked me in concern when he saw how tense I looked.

"I'm fine...will you have a talk with Mr. Yaiden without me, I need to go back to the station to get something," I made up an excuse.

"Okay? I'll see you later then," Hubb said in confusion as I turned around and quickly left the hotel, getting into my car and speeding back to the station.

I quickly pulled up to the station and got out, moving quickly until I saw that the power was off and a few officers were unconscious. I unholstered my P226R and I felt my gut instincts telling me to head to the lab. I cautiously aimed down every corner as I fast-walked to the lab, and I saw Cher and a few of her colleagues out cold. I holstered my gun and quickly went to check on Cher.

"Cher? Can you hear me? It's Jack," I called out worryingly as I was tapping her face for a response.

Then I felt something calling to me and I stood up, unholstering my gun and following the direction of where my intuition was leading me until I found myself outside and I spotted the two men I encountered yesterday, who were staring up at a man wearing all black and a mask covering his face. I noticed the man in black was holding the woman I saw yesterday and I aimed my gun at all three of them in turn.

"Police! Don't move!" I announced sternly, which caused all three men to look at me and everything turned into a tense stand off.


	3. Chapter 3

Freeze City, California, Former Untied States Of America, 2214.

I kept my gun trained at the three men, ready to shoot if any of them tried something. The man in the mask spoke in a deep gravely voice.

"Wolves," the man said, making the two men and I look at him in shock as he added, "you have my gratitude, for it was you who woke her."

"What?! Who the hell are you?!" the man with brown shaggy hair demanded.

"The Flower Maiden...is mine," the masked man stated.

"The Flower Maiden? Is that...Cheza?" the man in the hoodie questioned in disbelief.

 _"What the fuck is going on here?! Are these people nuts?! Why is that masked man calling the three of us wolves?!"_ I questioned internally.

Then a Noble's ship appeared and shined a powerful light down upon us as the masked man held up the woman by her neck. The woman woke up and let out a scream that caused agony to rip through me, and I covered my ears in pain. As I was screaming, I could've sworn that the two men's forms flickered and changed into large white and tan dogs before my eyes.

"Arrrrgggghhhh, my fucking ears!" I howled in pain as I ran away from the piercing noise.

As I was running, I felt the strangest sensation of my body changing and snapping into a powerful form that was best suited for moving on all fours. After I made it to my car, my body seemed to change back and I leaned on the hood, breathing heavily and trying to comprehend what had just happened.

 _"What the fuck?! Did those two men just change into dogs right in front of me?! And what the hell was that strange feeling?!"_ I thought incredulously about what I had just experienced.

I holstered my gun and took out a smoke, lighting it up and dragging on it to calm myself down. Once I was calm, I got into my car and drove to the hotel so that I could pick up Hubb.

As I pulled up to the hotel, I saw Hubb approaching, and he got into my car.

"Hey, are you okay Jack? You look really pale," Hubb pointed out in concern.

"I'm fine," I said, not wanting to talk about what I had just seen.

* * *

Hubb and I arrived at the hospital and headed to Cher's room, opening the door and seeing the person we were looking for lying in bed.

"Hubb, Jack, hi," Cher greeted as Hubb took off his fedora.

"You're looking well. We were afraid it was something serious," Hubb spoke in relief.

"I was just overworked," Cher lied as Hubb handed her a present.

"A gift for the lady," Hubb stated with a grin as I opened a window and lit up a smoke.

"Thank you. Can I open it?" Cher asked.

"Uh-huh," Hubb encouraged, and Cher opened the present as Hubb added softly, "I've forgotten how lovely you look, lying in bed."

Cher looked up for a second, blushed and said, "Oh please, I must look like hell."

Cher opened the box and remarked, "Your sense of fashion is as terrible as ever."

"They told us you had worked yourself into the ground, but I didn't believe it," Hubb commented wryly.

"No kidding. There goes my iron woman reputation," Cher remarked dryly, causing me to chuckle.

"The red snow will fall," Hubb mumbled under his breath, which caught me and Cher's attention.

"The red...snow?" Cher wondered in confusion and a little bit of surprise.

"Cher, this isn't the best time to ask, but...do you know about the Book Of The Moon?" Hubb asked, causing me to stare at him in confusion.

"Uh...yes, I think it's a pagan book, isn't it? Why do you ask?" Cher asked hesitantly.

"Well, that man who brought in the dog, he told me something pretty bizarre. Some old story about how humans were created from wolves," Hubb explained, which made me recall seeing those two men change into dogs, but I reasoned that it was just the stress of the job getting to me and making me hallucinate.

"A red...moon..." I heard Cher mumble under her breath and I looked at her suspiciously.

"What?" Hubb inquired in confusion.

"It doesn't matter...that book is probably banned by now. And besides, it's just an old fairy tale," Cher dismissed.

"Yeah, you're right. It's all stupid," Hubb agreed.

"I should rest for awhile," Cher stated.

"Sure, you must be tired," Hubb said as he stood up and he and we started walking to the door.

"You'll feel better in no time. And when you get out of here, we'll go celebrate. Our anniversary's coming up," Hubb continued as he turned around and look back at Cher.

"But...we were married in the summer. And beside, we were-" Cher said in confusion, and Hubb cut her off by wagging his finger and tisk tisked in response.

"I meant the one for our divorce," Hubb clarified slyly as he and I left the room.

* * *

"First dogs, and now birds. My damn allergies are fucking killing me," Hubb groaned behind a handkerchief as we looked at the corpses of birds that were on the ground and feathers slowly falling from the sky.

"The Aviation Bureau says there weren't any unauthorized aircrafts in the vicinity," the officer that was writing down notes informed us.

"Well, the damn Nobles are the only ones to fly anymore," I grumbled bitterly.

'Um, Detective Walker, you know you really shouldn't talk like that," the officer whispered at me, but a cold glare from me shut him up pretty quick.

Suddenly, my phone rang and I answered it.

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Detective Walker? It's Captain Wallace of the Cold Case Division. It's about your parents murder case. I think we found a lead," Wallace stated, which caught my attention.

"Okay Captain, you have my attention. What do you know?" I inquired.

"Not on the phone. We'll meet in an alleyway off of 6th and Lexington. Come alone," Wallace said until he hung up.

"Who was that?" Hubb asked as I put my phone away.

"No one important. Listen, do you think you could finish up here without me? I have some personal business to take care of," I stated.

"Um, sure, I'll meet you back at the station later," Hubb said, and I waved as I left the scene and got into my car.

* * *

I pulled up to my destination and got out of my my car. I put on my shades, lit a smoke, and exhaled a cloud of smoke as I walked into the alleyway. I saw a balding man in his 60s, wearing a suit that had a badge clipped to his left jacket pocket.

"Detective, you made it," Wallace greeted.

"Yeah, I'm here Captain. So, what did you find out?" I inquired.

"First things first, are you alone?" Wallace asked me, and I narrowed my eyes when I saw him looking behind me briefly.

"Yes, I came alone like you asked. Now, I've been looking for the fucker who killed my parents ever since that night when I was 14, so if you have a lead on who this son of a bitch is, I want to know about it," I growled eagerly.

"Well, you won't have to look very far," Wallace stated coldly.

Before I could react, I was grabbed from behind by two men and one of them reached into my jacket, taking out my gun and putting it to my head.

"...Captain...what the fuck is this?!" I yelled as I struggled.

"Sorry Detective, but you should have left well enough alone," Wallace said condescendingly.

"What the hell are you..." I trailed off as my eyes widened in realization and I felt hot rage as I shouted, "It was you! You were there that night! You killed them, you motherfucker!"

"You think I had any choice?! Your father was a damn good Narcotics Detective who never should have gotten too close! When he discovered that the task force and I was skimming from the side and slipping some money from evidence lock up, we tried to get him to see things from our point of view, but the bastard was too damn stubborn. He threatened to go to IA about our activities and we just couldn't let that happen! We didn't want to go to prison! Do you know what they do to cops in prison?! We wouldn't have lasted 10 days in there! So we came up with a plan to make it look like it was a robbery gone wrong, and we shut your father up before he could rat us out. But your mother just had to see the whole thing and we couldn't leave any witnesses...it could've gone okay from there since no one would believe a 14 year old boy, but you just couldn't leave well enough alone, could you? And now I have to shut you up so that you don't rat us out," Wallace stated bitterly.

"Fuck you! I'm gonna kill you and you friends, you dirty piece of shit!" I roared out, feeling something primal starting to wake up inside.

"It's tragic, isn't it fellas? Detective Jackson Michael Walker looked for the truth of his parents murders but he just couldn't cope and ate his gun. Such a shame," Wallace mocked as the men around us jeered and laughed.

At that point, something in me snapped and I broke free, kicking Wallace and sending him flying a couple feet away. I punched one of the dirty cops and the man grabbed his throat, choking and gurgling as blood came spewing out. As the other one tried to jump me from behind, I kicked him hard in the abdomen and he doubled over, out of breath. As I was fighting the dirty cops, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion and I was displaying impressive, almost inhuman agility. One of the dirty cops tried to aim my gun at me, but I grabbed the gun, forcing a misfire and I disarmed him, shooting him and the other cop until only me and Wallace were still breathing. I stormed over to Wallace, who was on the ground in pain, and I aimed my gun at him.

"...*choke*...*cough*...what the hell are you..." Wallace gasped out as I glared down at him.

"I'm the reaper, and your death's come due. This is for my mother and father, you son of a bitch," I said coldly and I emptied the rest of my rounds in him, making Wallace's body jerk with each shot.

Once he was dead, I let out a shaky breath, reloaded my gun, and headed to my car. I heard the sounds of multiple footsteps quickly approaching and I hurried back to my car, getting in and starting the Impala just as a SWAT team moved around the corner and aimed at my car.

The well armed and trained police officers opened fire as I peeled away from the onslaught of gunfire. I ducked my head when the back window shattered and managed to not crash into anything as I escaped. I knew that I couldn't go back to the station. I had killed multiple cops and they would be looking for me after that, so the only thing to do was to hole up in an abandoned building for the night and leave the city once daylight hit. I opened the window on my left and tossed out my phone so they couldn't track me with it.

After a while, I located an abandoned building on the edge of the city that looked perfect to hide in and I pulled up a couple of blocks away just in case. I got out of my car and unclipped my badge, looking at the representation of so many of my achievements and I hid it in my pocket as I headed to the building, knowing that there was no going back after this. I entered the crumbling building and went up the stairs, putting my hand under my jacket and gripping my gun just in case a junkie hopped up on PCP tried to jump me. Once I found a room, I opened the door and caused the occupant inside the room to quickly stand up and glare at me.

The man that was glaring at me in a hostile manner was in his late teens with tan skin and a large scar on his bare chest in the shape of an x, cropped silver hair that was tied back in a small ponytail, sharp amber eyes, and ear piercings. The man was wearing a black leather jacket with slightly torn sleeves, zipped up halfway over a gray muscle shirt, black leather pants, and biker boots. I noticed that the man was gripping his left arm, keeping pressure on a wound that was bleeding.

"Who the fuck are you?" the man demanded sharply in a deep voice.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I just need shelter," I reassured the man, but he scoffed.

"What is this, a hotel? Get the fuck out of here now before you piss me off!" the man threatened and I glared at him coldly in response.

"Look asshole, I'm not asking for much, just a place to stay for the night. You can even pretend that I'm not here," I reasoned.

The man kept glaring until he let out an irritated sigh and grumbled, "Fine, but only for one night. I'm not looking to hand out charity."

I nodded and walked over to a window, taking out a smoke and lighting it up as I watched the sun set. I saw the man glaring down at the floor, winkling his nose at the smell of cigarette smoke, and I snuffed out my cigarette butt, taking out my hip flask and offering it to the man who stared at me irritably.

"It's whiskey. You want some?" I offered, but the man flipped me off and I shrugged dismissively before taking a sip.

Suddenly, the door opened and I reacted by unholstering my P226R, aiming at the figures that were walking in.

I recognized the two men I'd been encountering a lot lately, but they had a 14 year old kid who had neck long red hair, light golden brown eyes, red long sleeved zipped up shirt with the sleeves rolled up, olive-green cargo pants, and dark green combat boots. What caught my attention was the four silver bangles that were on his right wrist, which looked like the same bangles I had seen on that dog's right foreleg. I holstered my gun just as the man in the hoodie started talking.

"What a crap heap. Why the hell did you bring us here?" the man in the hoodie questioned as he was looking around in disgust and saw me, adding, "Detective Walker, I wasn't expecting to see you again."

"Tsume!" the kid greeted the man in leather when he saw him.

"You!" Tsume exclaimed in shock when he saw the shaggy haired man.

"Wha, hey, is this him?" the man in the hoodie asked the kid.

"I could smell the blood from your wound," the shaggy haired man remarked.

"What?" Tsume questioned.

"I smelled it all the way here from town," the shaggy haired man stated, and I shot him a look of confusion.

"And you're gonna nurse me back to health? Well, I don't need your fucking help," Tsume snapped in irritation.

"Okay, let's stop it right here. What the hell is going on? And who the hell are you people?" I questioned in frustration, and the man in the hoodie smiled sheepishly.

"Oh, sorry, didn't introduce myself. I'm Hige, that's Kiba, and the runt behind us is Toboe," Hige introduced and Toboe perked up when he saw me.

"It's you mister. Thank you for feeding me earlier," Toboe said cheerfully and I looked at the kid like he had two heads.

"I'm sorry, do I know you? I don't recall giving you food unless I was on a bender," I questioned in confusion.

"He really doesn't know what he is, does he?" Hige told Kiba.

"Apparently he doesn't, so we just need to show him so he can believe it," Kiba agreed.

"Okay...what the fuck are you all talking about?" I asked, wondering if these people were crazy.

Suddenly, before my eyes, I saw Kiba, Hige, Toboe, and Tsume literally changing into another form in front of me, their clothes disappearing as different colored fur grew out of their bodies, joints stretching and snapping to canine form, tails growing out, ears growing to the top of their heads as their faces extended and grew into muzzles. After the transformations were done, I saw the familiar white dog, a tan fluffy and pudgy dog with the collar that had the letter x on it, a gray dog with the x-shaped scar on it's chest, and the brown dog I fed earlier. I just stared in disbelief, not knowing how to react as the dogs, no, wolves changed back into human form.

"Holy shit...that old drunk wasn't crazy...they really do walk among us..." I trailed off, feeling awe at seeing actual wolves in front of me.

"Well, what do you think?" Hige inquired with a cheeky grin.

"This is incredible, but why the hell would you all reveal yourselves to me? None of you have any reason to, so why?" I inquired.

"We believe that you are one of us, but you never knew that all your life," Kiba spoke out calmly.

"Wait a fucking minute. You're saying that I'm an honest to God wolf like you all? I think I would've noticed that," I stated skeptically.

"Look, as much as I would love teaching this asshole about who he is, I would rather you all just get the hell out of here," Tsume snapped in irritation, and I glared at him.

"Tsume, look...I...we're leaving the city. I really think you should come with us," Toboe said.

"And just where is this merry fucking band of yours going?" Tsume questioned.

"To Paradise," Kiba stated and Tsume scoffed in disbelief.

"Paradise? What the hell is Paradise?" I questioned in confusion.

"Don't listen to what this idiot is saying Detective, Paradise is nothing more than a myth. Just a bedtime story to put the cubs to sleep at night. And you all are going with him because you believe in that crap?" Tsume questioned skeptically.

"I don't know, but...if we stay here, then we'll just have spend the rest of our lives in hiding or worse...we just can't live with the humans anymore and survive," Toboe stated sadly.

"I hate to interrupt, but there's a nasty stink headed this way," Hige notified all of us grimly as he was peering out the window.

I slowly walked over to look outside, and I saw SWAT teams moving around and taking cover behind trees.

"We're surrounded," Tsume pointed out gruffly.

"Oh shit, those are SWAT teams. Those guys don't fuck around," I commented quietly.

"How do you know?" Hige asked me.

"Because I used to be in a SWAT team for 10 years before I became Detective," I clarified.

"Let me ask you, why did you all come to this city? It was because of the flower scent, was it? Well it's gone now. There's no reason to stay," Kiba reasoned.

"Well, I didn't exactly come to this city, I was born and raised here. At least, I think I was born here...I don't know what to believe anymore," I remarked.

"I don't know about you all, but the flower has nothing to do with it. I'm here because I belong," Tsume retorted.

"I can see that, this city is a shithole," Kiba rebutted.

"I still have a score to settle with you, asshole," Tsume growled as he started approaching Kiba menacingly, prompting me to get in between them before things got ugly.

"Can it, the pair of you! We have fucking SWAT teams outside ready to go dynamic any second! You two can kill each other later, but we need to get the fuck out of this city before we get killed," I reproached with a cold glare, but Kiba and Tsume ignored me.

"The last time we met, your fucking pride wouldn't allow you to pass as a human. Well, you look pretty damn human now, so where'd your pride go?" Tsume drawled as he bore his sharp amber eyes into Kiba's impassive blue ones.

"Nowhere, because nothing's changed," Kiba answered blandly.

"Do you have the slightest damn idea what leaving the city would mean?" Tsume implied.

"Yeah," Kiba said, nodding.

"You'll just die," Tsume hissed.

"Possibly, everyone's gonna die, it's a natural part of life. But if your life has no purpose, then you're already dead," Kiba retorted calmly.

Suddenly the room lit up from a searchlight outside and gunfire started pelting the building.

"Okay! Conversation's over, we need to get the fuck out of here!" I shouted as I unholstered my gun and fired back.

"This way!" Kiba yelled as he led the others to the roof and I followed after them.

We all ran across large pipes that were hanging from the building, leading to the wall of the dome that covered the city. Suddenly, a few rounds hit the pipe and Toboe slipped, causing him to start falling and he grabbed onto the side for dear life.

"Shit! Tsume, the kid's in trouble!" I roared out as I stopped and fired back at the SWAT teams that were trying to kill us.

I saw Tsume rush over to Toboe, and as he reached down, he shifted into his wolf form, latched onto Toboe's shoulder with his jaws, and pulled him up.

"Thank you," Toboe said gratefully.

"Go on, hurry up," Tsume encouraged.

"You're really not coming with us?" Toboe asked sorrowfully.

"Sorry to interrupt, but can we please get the fuck out here before we get killed!" I yelled at Tsume and Toboe as I ducked my head to avoid getting it blown off.

A few rounds hit the pipe, motivating Tsume and Toboe to run, prompting me to quickly flee the hail of gunfire. Tsume suddenly jumped off the pipe and landed on another large pipe that was below us.

"Tsume!" Toboe called out as he was running behind me.

"He can take care of himself Kid, now keep running!" I shouted back at Toboe while I let off a few rounds at the SWAT teams as we caught up to Kiba and Hige.

Eventually we wound up in a condemned building and Kiba, Hige, and Toboe jumped up impossibly across pillars and landed up at the roof above me.

"Jump Jack!" Hige shouted at me.

"Are you shitting me?! How the fuck am I going to do that?!" I questioned in disbelief.

"Listen! If you are a wolf, then you should be able to do it! Now hurry!" Hige instructed loudly.

"Ah fuck me," I grumbled under my breath as I holstered my gun.

I took a few deep breaths and I jumped with a yell, shockingly crossing the pillars until I met up with the others.

"Holy shit! Holy shit!" I gasped out in shock, staring at my hands in disbelief at the inhuman feat that I had just accomplished.

"So, how was it?" Hige inquired in anticipation.

"That was...my God...I am a wolf..." I trailed off breathlessly at the new revelation that has just hit me.

"Okay, let's get the hell out of here," Hige stated.

"Not yet," Kiba interjected as he looked back down into the building.

"What do you mean not yet?!" Hige exclaimed in shock as Kiba kept staring until Tsume appeared from below.

"Tsume!" Toboe called out cheerfully.

Tsume didn't say anything and just glared up at Kiba, who looked back until he said, "This way!"

We left the building and quickly headed to the dome wall, making inhuman leaps along the way until Kiba and Hige jumped from a ledge and landed outside the dome on a wrecked building that was far below us. Outside the dome, a heavy snowstorm pelted them.

"Oh Jesus," I muttered uncomfortably at the long drop.

"Jump you two!" Hige called out to me and Toboe.

"We were getting ready to, alright!" Toboe shouted back.

"Move it," Tsume snapped in irritation and booted Toboe off the ledge, the young wolf falling with a yelp until he hit the roof.

Suddenly, a round struck the ground next to me and Tsume, motivating me to jump and I yelled as I fell.

"Ohhhhh fuccckkkkk meeeee!" I shouted until I landed gracefully onto the roof and looked back up at Tsume, who wasn't budging.

"Tsume?! What are you waiting for?! C'mon, jump!" Toboe called up in disbelief just as I heard another round hitting the ground.

"Are you scared?!" Kiba called up calmly and Tsume reluctantly jumped down.

"Alright Jack. If you thought that was cool, then you'll love changing into your wolf form. Do you know how?" Hige asked me as we jumped off the building and ran through the snowy wasteland.

"No," I replied, wondering what changing into a new form felt like.

"It's easy. Just picture yourself shifting and let instinct do the rest," Kiba instructed as he and the others changed into their wolf forms.

As I ran, I pictured myself transforming into another shape and I felt my body snapping and cracking into a quadruped shape until I was suddenly running on all fours with the others. I felt amazed at my new powerful lupine shape as we kept running through the snowstorm and I wondered where this new journey would take me.

* * *

Hubb examined the animal tracks as he thought about his partner and friend Jack, and how Jack was wanted for murder. Spotting something in the snow, Hubb reached down and retrieved a badge. Jack's badge.

 _"God Jack...what the hell did you get yourself into?"_ Hubb thought in concern as he prayed that Jack was okay.

After Hubb went back to the station, he was approached by two Detectives from IA, who took Hubb in for questioning. When Hubb found out that Jack was wanted for killing a bunch of fellow cops, he refused to believe it and wondered if there had been some kind of mistake. Sure Jack was rough around the edges, but he wasn't a murderer. But as the evidence was shown to him, Hubb was shocked and he wondered what had driven his friend to commit murder.

"I'm not tracking them for pleasure or curiosity, you know. It's for revenge," Quent spoke as Hubb stood up and looked back at the hunter, seeing the same pain and haunted expression that Jack had carried for years since that horrible night.

"Now do you believe?" Quent suddenly asked out of the blue.

"Believe what?" Hubb questioned bitterly.

"That you've been deceived by a pack of wolves and your friend this entire time," Quent clarified with a smirk.

"You're wrong...I know Jack and he wouldn't lie to me all these years...and your wolves, it's just not possible," Hubb retorted, but he was only trying to convince himself that it wasn't true out of denial.

* * *

While we were running, Tsume suddenly stopped and looked back at the city I grew up in.

"Screw this fucking journey. Paradise can kiss my ass. I'm just...fed up with this shitty town. It was time to move on anyway," I heard Tsume grumble under his breath and he joined up with the rest of us as we kept running in no particular direction.


	4. Chapter 4

Location unknown, Former United States Of America, 2214.

I didn't know how long we had been running, but if I had to guess, it had been three weeks since we escaped Freeze City. We crossed snowy wastelands, deserts, and more snowy wastelands for days. While we were traveling, I saw the results of the destruction the nuclear warheads caused 200 years ago and I was shocked that the explosions caused so much devastation. As we were traveling today, a snowstorm came out of nowhere and hit us hard.

"Shit! This storm is really bad!" Hige yelled out in exertion as we kept pushing through the storm.

Looking around, I faintly saw a cave that looked like it could hold all of us and I pointed out, "Over there, there's a cave! We can take shelter until the storm calms down!"

Kiba nodded in agreement and said to us, "Okay, we'll rest until the storm dies down!"

We all headed to the cave and went inside, shaking ourselves so that we could dry off and resting in different areas. Hige and Toboe laid down at the back of the cave, Tsume sat at a corner and started brooding, and Kiba and I stood at the entrance. We all took our human forms and I lit up a smoke.

"Oh man, I sure am hungry," Toboe complained weakly.

"Yeah...you could say that again," Hige agreed.

"How long has it been since we ate anything?" Toboe asked.

"I don't know, I guess it's been about three days or so," Hige stated with a slight groan.

"We've gone that long without eating?" Toboe questioned in disbelief.

"Yep...not a bite," Hige said.

"How much longer before we get any food?" Toboe inquired.

"I have no idea...another three days I guess," Hige said just as I let out an irritated sigh and Tsume started speaking.

"Will you two quit your fucking whining already? It's only been three damn days," Tsume growled in irritation.

"He's right. I get it, we're all hungry and stressed out, but whining and complaining is not going to help. Just bear with it until the storm clears up, maybe we'll get lucky," I said in annoyance.

"Yeah, but if we hadn't left the city, we would have something to eat right now," Toboe whined.

"If we hadn't left the city, we would be dead. I don't know about you, but I would rather be alive and hungry then full and dead. So until we find something, can it with the fucking complaining, because I'm really getting sick of it," I snapped in irritation and dragged on my smoke to calm myself down before I started an ugly situation.

"We can last a lot longer if we bask in the moonlight. I traveled a full month once when I did that," Kiba notified us and Hige sat up in disbelief.

"Did you say a month?!" Hige exclaimed in shock.

"Damn, that explains a lot," I chimed in, causing Hige to look at me.

"What do you mean?" Hige asked in confusion.

"Well...when I was a kid, I always felt energized and didn't feel hungry at all whenever there was a full moon," I explained, and Hige nodded in understanding.

"It should stop snowing any time now. Once it does and night draws closer, the moon will be out," Kiba stated calmly.

"Well, if worse comes to worse, we can always eat each other. We can start with the runt since he's gotten so weak, and of course there's always little porky over there," Tsume suggested with a smirk, making me shoot a disgusted look at him as I dropped my cigarette butt and took a sip from my hip flask.

"Wait a second, how come Kiba and Jack aren't on the menu?" Toboe questioned in slight offense as he and Hige shot matching scowls at Tsume.

"Because Kiba is completely full of shit, and looking at Jack pisses me off, that's why," Tsume answered dryly as he glared at us.

"Gee, thanks asshole. Nice to know that Kiba and I are so loved," I quipped sarcastically as I stared coldly back at him and remarked dryly, "But I'm not going to get desperate enough to have to resort to fucking cannibalism, thank you very much."

"C'mon you guys, cut it out! Neither of you mean it, you're just saying stuff like that because you're hungry!" Toboe declared exasperatedly, trying to play peacemaker.

Suddenly, Hige started sniffing the air and he let out a noise of excitement as he got up and quickly left the cave, making everyone look at each other in confusion.

"What the hell's his problem?" Tsume questioned out loud.

"Wait...he smelled something, which means we might be looking at food," I stated as I shifted into my wolf form and chased after Hige, the others following closely behind.

* * *

I stared at the dead deer in disgust, swatting away any flies that got too close.

"I wonder where it came from. I mean, it's all by itself out here," Toboe wondered as we all looked at the carcass.

Hige started sniffing the body, causing Tsume to look at him like he was nuts.

"You're really gonna eat that?" Tsume questioned in disbelief.

"Yeah, aren't you gonna?" Hige rebutted before he, Kiba, Toboe, and (reluctantly) I dove in and started eating the carcass.

"It's free food...can't complain, especially since we don't know when we're going to find a meal like this so easily again," I stated as I ripped off a chunk of flesh and ate it.

"You know, this tastes pretty good. It's only a little bit tougher then hamburger. Hey, c'mon Tsume, have some. We still have a long way we have to go," Toboe said Tsume, who glowered at us.

"Go? Go where exactly? To that Paradise place? Off in the direction you smell the damn flower?" Tsume questioned skeptically.

"Tsume...C'mon Kiba, tell us. What's Paradise really like?" Toboe asked our unofficial leader and Hige spoke up.

"It's an amazing place! The flowers are always in bloom, and there's food everywhere. Oh, and there's beautiful babes all over the place," Hige sighed out with this dreamy look on his face.

"Oh Jesus," I mumbled in disbelief as Toboe looked at Hige in excitement.

"You mean it?!" Toboe asked in anticipation.

"Of course there are...I hope so anyway," Hige said sheepishly with a nervous laugh.

"You don't know," Toboe groaned in disappointment.

"I don't think what Hige's describing is not actually Paradise. Maybe his version, but not the real thing," I remarked as I shot a deadpanned glare at Hige.

"Paradise is nothing more than some bullshit story. And if it isn't, than it's probably some idiot's dream," Tsume grumbled.

"Oh yeah? Than why the hell did ya come with us?" Hige deadpanned.

"We'll never know unless we look for it," Toboe pitched in helpfully.

"How far are you all gonna let this douchebag screw with your heads like this? How far are you gonna follow this asshole in pursuit of a place that doesn't even exist to begin with?!" Tsume growled in resentment as he glared at Kiba and huffed, "The hell with this, I can't stand you dumbasses anymore."

Tsume turned around and started to storm away, causing Toboe to quickly stand up.

"Tsume!" Toboe called out to the lone wolf.

"Hey! Where the hell do you think you're going all by yourself?!" Hige inquired.

"To look for hell, I guess!" Tsume retorted.

"Look around dickhead, we're already in hell!" I yelled as I lit up a smoke, and Kiba started speaking.

"Suit yourself," Kiba said stoically.

"Kiba..." Toboe trailed off in shock.

"But remember. That set of rules you have, doesn't apply way out here," Kiba lectured, which caused Tsume to look back and shoot daggers at him.

"It really pisses me off when a smug little shit like you has that know-it-all look on his face and he's actually fucking clueless," Tsume snarled bitterly, and after a stare down with Kiba, he scoffed and walked away.

"Tsume! C'mon, don't leave now, we finally made some friends!" Toboe tried to reason.

"Play with your buddies all you want, I'm outta here!" Tsume snapped as he was leaving.

"If you ask me, the only one who's acting like a spoiled brat is him," Hige chimed in quietly.

"You won't get any objections from me," I grumbled in agreement as I dropped my cigarette butt.

"Don't say that...I like Tsume, he's really nice. Just wait here, I'm gonna go get him," Toboe told us seriously and ran off after Tsume.

"Oh Jesus Christ...wait here, I'm gonna make sure that they don't get into any trouble," I said as I stood up and quickly chased after them, mumbling 'damn kids' under my breath.

I managed to catch up to Toboe and Tsume just in time to hear Toboe start reasoning with Tsume.

"Hey! Wait for me, Tsume! What are you so mad about, huh? C'mon, come back and join us-" Toboe started to say, but he got cut off rudely.

"Shut the hell up!" Tsume snapped angrily.

"You know it's dangerous to wander around alone," Toboe pleaded.

"It doesn't matter, does it? We're always alone," Tsume growled, but I could've sworn that I heard pain and loneliness under all that anger.

"But wait, I-" Toboe went to grab Tsume's arm.

"Fuck off and stop bothering me!" Tsume roared out in fury, swinging his arm and knocking Toboe down and I retaliated by storming over and clocking Tsume hard across the face with a left hook, causing him to stumble back.

"You listen you son of a bitch! If I ever see you hit him again, I will fucking kill you!" I snarled at the bastard who had the gall to hit Toboe, and Tsume clutched his face in surprise at me hitting him.

"Just...don't follow me!" Tsume said quickly and took off running.

Glaring coldly at the lone wolf running away, I helped up Toboe and asked gruffly, "Are you okay, Kid?"

"Yeah...thanks Jack," Toboe said.

"God...what a fucking asshole. And this is the guy you want to come back?" I huffed.

"I'm not giving up on him. I just know I'll get through to him," Toboe declared stubbornly and I looked at him like he had two heads.

"Are you fucking serious? He hit you...you do realize that, right?" I questioned the young wolf, wondering if he got a screw knocked loose.

"I know, but I'm sure he didn't mean it," Toboe defended.

"You're not gonna stop going after him, are you?" I deadpanned dryly.

Toboe nodded and I muttered, "Damn kids are going to be the death of me one day."

I took my shades off, gently rubbed my eyes to quell the migraine that was forming, and I gestured to Toboe to lead on as I put my shades back on. Toboe shifted into his wolf form and I followed suit, the two of us tracking Tsume down by scent.

* * *

After following the trail for a while, we wound up in a ruined U.S Military base of some kind. Toboe and I were standing on a ledge, the two of us calling out for Tsume.

"Tsume! Hey, Tsume!" Toboe called out.

"Tsume! Get your ass out here!" I yelled until we heard explosion in the distance.

Toboe and I looked to our left and saw large black smoke rising from an area Toboe and I passed earlier. Suddenly, Tsume came from out of nowhere and tackled us off the ledge as automatic gunfire ripped through the ledge where Toboe and I had been standing. We quickly took cover as I unholstered my gun.

"Shit! Where the hell did that come from?!" I exclaimed in alarm.

I heard a groan and I looked to see Tsume was putting pressure on a large gash that was on his left leg.

"Tsume! You're wounded!" Toboe pointed out urgently.

"I'm fine...guh," Tsume groaned out in pain.

"Fuck, our sniper has the high ground. Okay, from what I could tell, our shooter is somewhere to the northwest. I'll fire a few shots to get his attention and then we run once our shooter has his full attention on this area, alright?" I instructed, causing Toboe and Tsume to nod.

I leaned out and fired three rounds at the area where the sniper was set up and then we ran as soon as rapid gunfire hit our former cover. Pretty soon we found ourselves on what used to be a highway and I noticed that Tsume was slowing down and staggering.

"You good?" I inquired and Tsume held up a hand.

"I'm fine..." Tsume grunted, and the three of us were forced to stop when we ran out of road.

"Ah damn...out of the frying pan and into the fucking fire," I muttered in displeasure.

Just when I thought our situation couldn't get any worse, we heard a vehicle approaching.

"We have to jump!" Tsume exclaimed in alarm as we saw that the vehicle was an old hybrid of a pre-war mech and a tank.

"Shit Tsume, you are one crazy motherfucker!" I stated as we all dived off the edge to avoid getting shot and we landed after falling a long way, running to cover and peering out at the mech.

"What the heck is that thing?" Toboe asked us.

"How the hell should I know?" Tsume groaned out.

"Shit, my gun isn't going to do any fucking damage to that thing," I growled in frustration.

"What do we do?" Toboe asked nervously.

"We run," I said darkly as the mech backed up out of sight.

Tsume flinched in pain and Toboe worryingly said, "Tsume."

"Dammit...the disgusting stench of this fucking place is starting to make me sick," Tsume snarled under his breath as we left our cover with me leading.

"C'mon, this way," I said quietly as we turned right and kept moving.

After a few minutes, we found ourselves out of the base and being chased by the mech.

"Shit! That thing is fucking relentless! It was most likely programmed before the war to kill any intruders, human or otherwise!" I exclaimed in frustration as we started crossing an icy bridge.

I heard the noise of a cannon firing and a missile destroyed the bridge we were on, sending us falling and I was knocked out when we hit the bottom.

* * *

 _"Mom! Dad!"_

 _"Oh fuck no...please, not them,"_

 _"This one will be waiting for you and Kiba, Jack,"_

I gasped awake and sat up quickly, scaring Toboe who was looking after an out cold Tsume.

"Jack, you scared me. Are you okay?" Toboe asked me in concern.

"I'm fine, I'm just not as young as I used to be...Goddamn that hurt," I groaned in pain as I sat against the icy wall.

Then Toboe went back to licking Tsume's injury, the grey wolf stirring and waking up until he saw Toboe licking him and he recoiled in disgust.

"Ugh God! Stop that! Don't ever touch me..." Tsume snapped as he sat up quickly.

When he saw Toboe looking down, Tsume went quiet for a few seconds and asked, "What's it doing?"

"It's not after us. Looks like we gave it the slip," Toboe explained as he looked to see Tsume laying back down and commented, "Whoa...just like Jack, you're covered in scars. That one...the one on your chest. Man, it's really cool."

Tsume just rolled onto his side and didn't say anything. When I saw a haunted expression cross his face for a second, I knew that Tsume was just as broken and hateful as I was. Seeing his attitude and how defensive he was reminded me when I was his age, angry and hateful at the world for how it took everything from me when I was 14.

"I wonder what happened to Kiba and Hige? I'll bet they're pretty worried about us by now," Toboe wondered until Tsume started speaking.

"I don't trust anyone. And because of that, no one has to trust me...that way, it keeps things nice and simple," Tsume stated bitterly.

"I don't care. I still like you anyways, Tsume," Toboe spoke kindly.

"Well, pushing people away is something we both have in common, Tsume. When I was younger, I was angry and hateful at the entire world and because of that, I closed myself off from other people, even my closest friends..." I trailed off bitterly, the two wolves looking at me and we heard a faint sound that got louder until we heard the mech approaching.

"Agh...damn!" Tsume groaned out as he tried to stand up, but Toboe grabbed him.

"Forget about it Tsume, you'll get yourself killed!" Toboe exclaimed in disbelief.

"At least then you and Jack will finally have something to eat," Tsume quipped with a pained grin.

"Don't be stupid! I'll act as a decoy and distract it so that you and Jack can get away!" Toboe shouted at him before he started to run out of the cave.

"Don't do it!" Tsume cried out in horror, making Toboe look back with a reassuring smile.

"You can trust me. It's okay," Toboe assured until he ran outside.

"You crazy kid! That thing's gun will rip you to fucking shreds!" I called out incredulously, and then I put Tsume's left arm over my shoulder and helped him up.

"Let go of me, dammit! I don't need your help, Jack!" Tsume growled stubbornly as I forced him to move.

"Well you're getting it anyways, you stubborn motherfucker!" I retorted loudly as we left the cave.

The mech turned it's head at us and we moved quickly to avoid the gunfire. I let out a yell of pain when I felt a round graze my left leg, and we were sent flying when the mech fired a missile at the ground near us. Tsume and I crashed to the ground and we laid there until we heard the mech approach, and we struggled to sit up to see the mech leering down at us.

"Argh...shit...damn you Tsume, I'm not going to die because your fucking wolf pride," I growled in pain as I gripped my injury and unholstered my gun, struggling to aim at the mech's eye.

Suddenly, we heard a howl and Kiba came rushing out of nowhere in his wolf form to leap at the mech and he latched onto the mech's eye with his jaws, making the mech swing him off and it chased after Kiba, who took off up the wall. Tsume and I heard Hige calling for us, and we looked to see him up a ledge and gesturing us to follow.

"Tsume! Jack! This way!" Hige called out to us as he kept gesturing us to follow him, prompting the two of us to stagger to our feet and limp over to him.

As we were limping and painfully jumping up to the ledge, I looked back to see Kiba lunging down at the mech with a giant icicle and Kiba plunged the sharp spike into the mech's gun before leaping off and landing on a ledge. I looked away and kept moving and I heard the sounds of rapid gunfire until rushing water blocked that out and everything went silent after that as Tsume, Toboe, and I kept moving to safety until we stopped a mile away and Tsume and I sat down.I lit up a smoke and inhaled the tobacco smoke.

"Um, Jack...you do realize that those things will kill you, right?" Hige pointed out as he scrunched up his nose from the smell of smoke.

"The world and it's inhabitants are already dying, Hige. If I die, I want to go out on my own terms. And if dying from lung cancer is meant to be my fate, than so be it," I stated blankly as I saw Kiba approaching.

"Damn...that's a really dark way of seeing things but whatever, it's your choice," Hige remarked dryly as Kiba walked up to us and Hige asked him, "Hey, are you okay?"

"It's only a scratch," Kiba said calmly while ignoring the graze on his arm.

"Yeah right. Ever since I met you guys, nothing but trouble," Hige grumbled unamusingly.

"I knew it...well, I wasn't sure but...I had a feeling you guys would come for us," Toboe spoke up gratefully.

"Well don't get too used to it, Kid," Hige remarked, and Tsume started talking.

"I didn't ask for any fucking help. Why the hell would you do that? Risk your lives for me? And don't try telling me that it's because we're friends," Tsume questioned us.

"That's easy...it was just instinct," Kiba said simply.

"I don't know why I saved you...I guess it's because I didn't want your death on my fucking consciense," I chimed in gruffly as I threw down my cigarette butt and stood up painfully.

Tsume didn't say anything and stood up, stumbling as he moved forward and Toboe rushed over to put Tsume's arm around his shoulder. Tsume looked back at me and Kiba, and I could've sworn that I saw a hint of respect appearing for a second until he looked away and started limping. Kiba, Hige, and I followed after them, all five of us shifting into our wolf forms and pressing on.


	5. Chapter 5

Location unknown, California, Former United States of America, 2214.

After barely surviving the ruined military base, we moved on and kept moving for six days until we found another cave that was several miles from the base. Kiba and I were looking outside the entrance while I puffed on my smoke and the others lounged around.

"I'm really hungry again," Toboe complained.

"Yeah...me too. Hard to believe that only six days have passed by so quickly," Hige agreed.

"Well...remember that town we passed through two days ago? Someone said there's a human who looks after "the holy flower" in a village ahead," Toboe informed us.

"That's right! We might be able to get some food there," Hige said eagerly and Tsume scoffed.

"Oh for fuck's sake...don't tell me you two actually believe rumors that came from a human," Tsume said skeptically.

"Nobody mentioned it being a lunar flower, but we'll have to confirm it with our eyes," Kiba stated as I snuffed out my cigarette butt.

"I don't know if going to this town is a good idea. Not every place is going to be friendly and people will lash out if they see outsiders, even lethally," I pointed out gruffly as I took a sip from my hip flask.

"Well, we won't know until we find out," Toboe chirped as we left the cave and kept moving.

We kept moving on until we wound up in forested area and arrived at the town. I examined the town while I was puffing on a smoke and saw stone buildings on rocky cliffs.

"Why the hell are we even here? Jack said that the humans here might not be welcoming to outsiders," Tsume said as he looked at Kiba.

"Hige, are you picking up any scents that could tell us what we're walking into?" I asked Hige as I snuffed out my cigarette butt and Hige started sniffing the air.

"Hmmm...there's definitely food here, but no flower from what I can tell...wait. I can also smell the scent of...gunpowder?" Hige mumbled in confusion.

Hearing that made alarm bells go off in my head and I spotted glints appearing from the windows.

"Shit! Get down!" I exclaimed in alarm just as gunfire rang out and rounds started flying around us.

We all reacted by separating and I rolled behind a tree for cover just as I pulled out my gun. I heard someone behind me suddenly and I quickly aimed to see that it was Toboe, who let out a yelp of alarm when he saw the gun aimed right at his face and I quickly lowered it.

"Jesus Kid, don't fucking do that! I nearly shot you!" I scolded harshly.

"Sorry Jack. What do we do?" Toboe asked me just as a male voice boomed out.

"Outsiders! Turn around and leave or you all will die!" the voice threatened as I peered out and saw the glints of guns in every window of the town.

"Okay...from what I can tell of the rounds that they're firing, they are using hunting rifles and shotguns and I count 50 shooters. Here's what we are going to do. I'll lay down suppressive fire and then we move quickly out of their line of sight, understand?" I instructed Toboe, who nodded just as we heard the male voice shouting again.

"Last warning! Leave now or suffer the consequences!" the man warned us just as I did a brass check and nodded when I saw a round in the chamber.

"Okay, on three. One...two...three!" I declared just as I moved out into the open and started firing back.

After I fired five shots, my sharp hearing picked up a yell of agony and someone ranting in horror about how a man named Mark was dead. More shots started flying around us as Toboe and I quickly fled the area. I let out a noise of pain when a round hit my left shoulder and the force sent me crashing to the ground, much to Toboe's horror.

"Jack!" Toboe cried out in alarm as he rushed over to see if I was okay.

"Guh...check my back...see if there's an exit wound..." I groaned out in agony just as I barely sat up and Toboe moved my shoulder gently to see my back.

"Yeah. I see it," Toboe informed me.

"That's good...it's a through and through...that means it's treatable...fuck!" I yelped the last part in pain when Toboe managed to get me to stand up.

I holstered my gun and put pressure on my injury as we kept moving until Toboe tripped over a tree root and fell to the ground. I groaned as I leaned down and grabbed him by the arm to stand him up. As I was helping him to his feet, I saw that there was a nasty gash on his left arm and Toboe looked dazed.

"Shit Kid...don't you dare fucking pass out on me..." I groaned as Toboe managed to snap out of it.

"Jack...I don't feel so good," Toboe groaned dizzily and I spotted a bad injury on his head, which I concluded that he hit his head when he fell.

"Ah fuck..." I muttered under my breath just as a female voice called out suddenly.

"Who's there? Is someone there?" the voice questioned as a girl came into our line of sight.

The girl was in her teenaged years with long black hair that was tied up in a braid and wearing a black cloak with hiking boots. I saw that she was holding a bag and the girl looked at us with surprise and curiosity.

"You two are...not from this village, are you? I heard the sounds of guns just now. Oh lord, you two are badly wounded! You need help!" the girl exclaimed in horror when she saw how injured we were and I pulled out my gun to deter her from getting too close.

"Step back! Are you alone and are you armed?" I interrogated the girl, looking at her face for any tells that would let me know that she was lying.

"Yes I'm alone and I'm not armed. Listen, you and your young friend are badly injured, so come with me and I can help you two," the girl offered, but I looked at her suspiciously.

"How do I know that you won't lead us into an ambush?" I questioned the girl skeptically.

"You two are badly injured and bleeding out, so you have no choice but to trust me," the girl pointed out and I grumbled at the fact that she was right.

"Okay...we'll go with you...but I swear to God, if you are leading us into an ambush..." I implied, glaring threateningly at the girl.

"I won't, now keep quiet and follow me," the girl told us as I holstered my gun, picked up Toboe, and held him in my arms.

"Jack?...Where are we going?" Toboe asked woozily as I followed the girl.

"I'm taking us someplace safe, Kiddo. Just don't fall asleep or you might not wake up," I told him as we kept moving.

After a while, we made it at a house and the girl had me lay Toboe onto a table as she took out a first aid kit.

"Okay sir, take off your jacket and shirt so that I can help with that bullet wound," the girl told me but I shook my head.

"I can do it myself...just make sure that the kid is okay," I said as I took off my shades, jacket, shoulder holster, and white t-shirt, showing the girl the scars that were all over my torso and my tribal tattoo that ran down my right shoulder and to my wrist.

The girl gasped in shock when she saw all my scars, but I ignored it as I took out a bottle of disinfectant and sutures. I took off my belt and put it in my mouth, bracing for the intense pain as I opened the bottle of hydrogen peroxide. I dampened the cotton ball I had in my hand and gently dabbled my bullet wound, snarling in agony as the disinfectant did its work and the girl walked over.

"I patched up your friend to the best of my ability, but you need help with your exit wound," the girl told me.

I didn't say anything and just handed her the bottle and the cotton balls. I gritted my teeth when she dabbled the disinfectant onto my exit wound.

"You are taking this well. I don't think I've ever had an injured person be so quiet like this, but that's to be expected since you have those scars all over your front and back. And that one on your face...how did you get it?" the girl asked me and I shot her a cold glare.

"Don't misunderstand the situation..." I growled in pain and continued,"...we are not fucking friends and I don't know you, so that gives me plenty of excuse not to trust you," I snapped in irritation just as the girl took the sutures and stitched up my exit wound.

"I know you don't trust me, but you brought your friend here so that has to count for something, right?" the girl pointed out as she walked into my line of sight and started stitching up my entrance wound.

"I only did it because I didn't have a damn choice. So once we're patched up, we're leaving to find the rest of our group and getting the hell out of here before we get killed by your crazy neighbors. Speaking of your neighbors, what the hell is their problem? They just opened fire on us for no fucking reason at all," I questioned the girl just as she placed bandages on my wounds.

"You'll have to forgive them...we had outsiders come before you and your friends a long time ago. After that, tragedy occurred many times and because of that, the town came up with one rule so that we would never face it again...never let any outsiders in. After that we always prevented any outsider from getting in, even if the people in town had to kill them to prevent tragedy from happening again," the girl explained as I put on my t-shirt, shoulder holster, jacket, and my shades.

"That's no fucking excuse. Even if tragedy had happened, that doesn't give them the right to try and kill someone. Your neighbors tried to kill us and I had to kill one of them in self-defense. Now, they're going to be out for blood because of what I did," I told her sternly as I went to check on Toboe, seeing him looking better due to it being a full moon.

"Jack...you're okay," Toboe groaned and smiled at me.

"I'll be fine Kid, just worry about yourself," I dismissed just as the girl was closing the first aid kit.

"I'm sorry, I only have so many herbs. Are you and your friend feeling better?" the girl asked Toboe.

"We'll be okay, thank you. We heal fast," Toboe assured her.

"So...where did you two and your friends come from if you don't mind me asking?" the girl inquired.

"We came from a city up north," Toboe told her as he sat up and I carefully helped him off the table and to a chair.

"The...north? There's a city...up north?" the girl asked curiously.

"Yes, it's pretty far from here. For Jack and I, this is our first time traveling this far and we stopped by a lot of towns along the way," Toboe explained.

"...There are other towns...besides this one," the girl muttered which caught our attention.

"Did you say something?" I questioned and the girl shook her head.

"It's nothing. And your families?" the girl asked us.

"I'd been living with a human-" Toboe started to say, but a nudge to his side and a warning glare from me made him quickly clarify, "I mean my grandma all this time, but she...passed away a long time ago."

"Oh, I am truly sorry," the girl spoke softly and Toboe raised his right arm so that she could see his bangles.

"These...were given to me by my grandma...anyways, I've got friends with me now, though Jack and I were separated from them. What about you? Do you have any family?" Toboe asked the girl, but she just looked at the window and I saw a sapling of some kind of flower sitting on the window sill.

"See that sapling over there? That's a memento of my mother...that flower was blooming on the divine hill, and the legend saying "divine hoisted the sky" lingers. Divine footprints, they remain on top of that hill. The flowers bloomed on a field next to them...however, most of them were dug up by outsiders who came from distant lands. Because of that, a series of tragedies had befallen this place and the townsfolk always abided to the rule of never letting in any outsider. If we let them in, a great calamity would fall down upon us and the flowers that left this place would wither and die. Ever since then, my whole family watches over these flowers. This one last sapling, we've been protecting it from ever getting stolen or dying while waiting for a full moon to bloom the flower in it's full glory," the girl explained.

"A full moon?" I inquired.

"Yes, but I have yet to see it," the girl told us and I started theorizing.

 _"Is that sapling a lunar flower? I wonder,"_ I thought as the girl kept explaining.

"Everyone in the town is becoming mad with fear and paranoia and hardly leaves their homes, let alone leaving this town. I always sneak out to give the flower the water from the hill or to bathe it in the moonlight. Otherwise, the flower might wither in a dark room like this...it...might not bloom again though..." the girl trailed off sadly and Toboe put a hand on her shoulder.

"It will, since it's such in good hands," Toboe reassured with a soft smile.

"Yeah...I've always been told that outside this town, there's nothing and nobody that remains. Yet, there are towns in the distance. My guess is that the picked flowers didn't wither and die either? I'm sure...wherever they are. I'm glad that everything is just superstition. What is your names if you two don't mind me asking?" the girl asked us.

"Jack...my name is Jack Walker," I told her.

"And I'm Toboe. You?" Toboe inquired cheerfully.

"It's nice to meet you two. My name is Tia. So Toboe, Jack, are you two heading somewhere?" Tia asked us.

"We are, though we're not sure where it is," Toboe said and asked, "Tia, what's the name of this flower?"

"We just call it the Holy Sacred Flower...why?" Tia inquired in confusion.

"In the Paradise we're heading to, flowers called lunar flowers bloom in one whole field. I don't know if this flower of yours is a lunar flower Tia, but I'm sure it blooms in great numbers in Paradise," Toboe said as he looked at the sapling.

"Paradise..." Tia mumbled curiously.

"Would it bloom the next full moon?! I'd love to see it then," Toboe chirped in excitement.

"Would you stay here until it does?" Tia offered and Toboe shot her a look of shock.

"Eh?! I can stay?" Toboe asked in surprise.

"Yes. I'd love us to see it bloom together, Toboe," Tia stated as they kept watching the sapling.

Suddenly, I heard a shrill beeping noise and I winced at the offending sound that was attacking my ears. I knew that a Noble ship was nearby so that was enough excuse for us to leave.

"Toboe, we need to go," I said grimly while the pup was covering his ears and Tia looked at us in confusion.

"Why do you want to leave, Jack? Is there something wrong?" Tia asked me just as someone knocked on the front door and a male voice started speaking.

"Tia?! Tia! Tia, is someone in there with you?! You wouldn't be hiding an outsider, would you?" the man questioned suspiciously.

"Shit. Okay, that's our cue to get the fuck out of here," I stated as Toboe and Tia looked at each other.

"Ti-Tia," Toboe stuttered nervously.

"Come, we'll go through the back door and head for the hill," Tia whispered and she led us to the back door as I pulled out my gun.

As the three of us went out the back, four men came out of nowhere and aimed guns and me and Toboe, prompting me to aim back at each of them in turn.

"Tia. I'm sorry, but your guests must leave immediately. Did you forget our town's rule? Never let in any outsiders. Your mother died from a horrible disease when she was young and she left you all alone. She died because she let a damn outsider in. Do you want that to happen to you too?" one of the men implied just as the sound of the Noble ship got closer.

Suddenly, lasers came raining down from the sky and striking the forest surrounding the town, causing massive explosions and large fires to break out. The four men whipped around and looked at the carnage in horror.

"Holy mother of God! What the fuck is that?!" one of the men exclaimed in shock and he started aiming at me and Toboe with his Winchester rifle, staring at us with a look of pure paranoia.

"You two! You did this! It's all your fucking fault!" the man shouted at us and I trained my gun on him.

"Hey! Take it easy and lower that fucking gun! You want us to leave? We'll do it, but this doesn't need to end in fucking bloodshed!" I tried to reason the man.

Then one of the men let out a cry of alarm when he spotted Hige fleeing and all of the men turned around to shoot at him, giving Tia, Toboe, and I the chance to escape. I separated from Toboe and Tia, changing into my wolf form and moving fast until I spotted Tsume and Kiba seeming to confront each other. As I quickly approached, I saw that Kiba was on the second level of the town while Tsume was on the lower level.

"Kiba! Tsume! We need to get the fuck out of here, now!" I stated urgently as I ran up to where Tsume was, causing the two wolves to look at me.

"That's an understatement of the fucking century! There's no point in going any further!" Tsume growled at Kiba while wrinkling his muzzle back to bare his teeth at him.

"Look Kiba, whatever you were hoping to find in this place turned out to be a dead end, so coming here was a fucking waste of time!" I shouted at the white wolf sternly while perking my ears forward and raising my tail up straight in a display of dominance.

I saw Kiba lifting his head in surprise at my actions but he didn't say anything. He knew that I was right and he needed to understand that.

After we all fled, we met up with Hige, who was eating a piece of meat while in his wolf form and the four of us managed to reunite with Toboe. We all left the town and never looked back. Kiba was in the lead as usual, Hige was just behind him, Toboe was in the middle, I was the fourth wolf because of the bullet wound in my left shoulder and Tsume was last. We put the town behind us as we kept running out of the forest and entering the snowy wasteland as a pack.

 _"I don't know if this Paradise place is worth it, but I have nowhere else to go so I might as well see where Kiba will take us,"_ I thought as we kept moving.


	6. Chapter 6

Location unknown, California, Former United States Of America, 2214.

Once my injuries were healed, we moved on and kept traveling for days. As we were running, I spotted a train moving by us on our left. I didn't know if it was me, but ever since I found out the truth about who and what I really am, I've felt something calling me and telling me to look for Paradise. I've kept it to myself since I didn't want the others to think I was crazy. After running for hours, we eventually stopped to take a break and Toboe started telling us about a dream he had last night.

"I had a dream that we reached Paradise. Oh, it was so amazing! There were all these red and blue flowers blooming as far as the eye can see. And you know what, they were all lunar flowers," Toboe stated happily while I was dragging on my smoke.

"Have you ever seen a lunar flower before?" Hige questioned.

"Well...no, not really. But Granny was there to, and she took care of us, and she cooked for us, and made all kinds of delicious food!" Toboe described in excitement.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Hige asked in confusion.

"I guess he'll be happy being someone's pet even in Paradise," Tsume remarked wryly.

"It's not what you're thinking. It was like a party, and we were all treated like guests. And there was great music playing and everything!" Toboe defended.

"It sounds like a city coffee shop to me," Hige said skeptically.

"But it's true, Hige! It was so amazing, and it made think it was really Paradise! It's...kinda hard to describe," Toboe mumbled the last part as he looked down.

"Well with a brain like yours, what do you expect," Hige insulted, causing Toboe to start scowling at him.

"Give me a break! Not even Kiba told me what Paradise is really like, so how am I supposed to know?!" Toboe said irritably as he looked at Kiba and asked, "What colors are lunar flowers anyway? Can you tell me that?"

Kiba only smiled at him and stood up, saying, "It's time to go."

I tossed my cigarette butt to the ground as the rest of us stood up, and we moved on. Eventually we followed the train tracks to a bridge that stretched out as far as the eye could see over a seemingly endless ocean.

"What is it?!" Toboe called out to us as he caught up and saw the bridge.

"The ocean," Kiba said softly and we headed toward the bridge.

I didn't know how long we were walking across the bridge, but the wind had picked up and turned into a snowstorm. Kiba stopped and looked at something that was in the distance.

"The scent is really faint, but it's lunar flowers alright," Kiba informed us.

"Guys, this is it! Paradise is right up ahead, I know it!" Toboe exclaimed in excitement and started running.

I chuckled and took a sip from my hip flask, then joined the others chasing after Toboe. We eventually stopped when we saw a decrepit and seemingly abandoned city in the distance.

* * *

Kiba jumped down from the fence, followed by me, Hige, Tsume, and Toboe, who slipped and landed on his ass unceremoniously with a yelp. I knelt down and pulled the pup up to his feet.

"T-thanks Jack..." Toboe trailed off shyly as he blushed in embarrassment.

"Don't mention it, Kid," I spoke gruffly as I lit up a smoke.

"You smelled flowers, huh? Well all I smell is the stench of some old rancid oil," Hige pointed out dryly as Tsume stuck his thumbs in his pockets and started walking out into the street.

We followed Tsume and looked at the homes and buildings we were walking past, seeing people peering out at us warily and curtains being quickly drawn as we looked.

"Damn, what a shithole," Tsume mumbled.

"Man, do you think they're all afraid of us?" Toboe asked us uneasily.

"Not used to visitors, that's for damn sure," Hige replied.

"These people most likely don't take too kindly to outsiders, so lets not start anything and leave these people to their business," I warned as we passed a homeless family, who shielded their child from us and glared in warning.

"What the hell are we supposed to find here anyway?" Tsume questioned and added sarcastically, "This is some paradise."

We kept walking until we turned a corner and passed an alley that was occupied by seven people huddled around a lit up barrel to keep themselves warm. As we stopped and looked at the figures, I saw that they appeared to be either around my age or in their 50s, wearing old ratty clothes and their expressions showed no signs of either hope or life among them.

"That's a woman," I heard Hige comment in surprise as he saw a woman with the men.

The group spotted us and started glaring coldly. As I met their stares, I saw their human forms change into old, mangy, ragged looking wolves for a second and back again as one of them stood up and sneered at us. The man's human form was a white male in his 50s with shaggy brushed back light brown hair, dead light brown eyes, and a large scar on his left cheek. The man was wearing a black and red striped leather jacket, light blue shirt, and black jeans that were tucked into black biker boots.

"Where are you boys from?" the man asked us gruffly.

"A city to the north," Kiba answered tensely.

"Why are you here?" the man pressed bluntly while I lit up a smoke and glared back coldly.

"Just passing through. You don't expect us to do business here, in a shithole like this, do you?" Tsume drawled and the old wolves tensed up.

"Well then, where are you going?" the man asked bluntly.

"Where are we going?" Hige repeated with a snort.

"To Paradise!" Toboe chirped proudly.

The group seemed to become more guarded and the man's eyes bulged at hearing the word, his pack mates also stiffening up sharply behind him. And just as the tension intensified, it was gone instantly when the pack leader threw his head back and laughed, his pack mates joining him.

Confused, Toboe looked at Kiba and asked, "Kiba, why are they laughing?"

"It's because these fucking assholes obviously don't know shit about Paradise," I stated in a gruff tone that dripped derision.

Suddenly, the old wolves turned their attention to me, examining me more closely when they caught my remark. I glared back at them from behind my shades.

"We know all about it," the wolf with the scar on his face growled flatly.

"It's nothing but a fucking legend!" a short and stocky male with a large nose barked out from amongst the huddle, earning our attention.

"Legend?" Toboe repeated softly.

"That's right kid, there's no such thing as Paradise!" the man with large nose declared, sneering at Toboe's confused expression.

"What makes you say that?" Kiba asked warily, bristling at the old wolves attitudes.

"Maybe because we've all been there and we've all seen it...and let me tell you that place was no paradise...it was more like hell, really," the man with the large nose snorted as the other pack members grinned darkly at us.

"Well, that's no surprise," Tsume scoffed.

"Well, aren't you just fucking hilarious. That big ugly snout of yours must've led you in the opposite direction. I don't know if Paradise is real or not but I just know that we're going to find it, if only to show up a washed up dog like you," I drawled coldly as I moved in front of the others, and the man with the large nose bristled at my insult and stood up.

"You do well to keep your old mutt in his place or he's going to wind up in deep shit," the man snarled at Kiba, who just stared back impassively.

"Is that a fucking fact?" I said menacingly as I dropped my smoke and took off my shades, showing the old wolves my cold blue eyes as Hige grabbed my shoulder and shook his head frantically.

"For fuck's sake Jack! You made your point, so quit trying to piss them off!" Hige reasoned and I huffed.

"Fine, I rest my case," I relented gruffly as I put my shades back on and took a sip from my hip flask.

"You'll all find out soon enough that Paradise isn't worth looking for. Now, take your old ugly mutt with you and get the hell out of here. You do have a place to belong, don'tcha?" the man with the scar questioned snidely as he glowered at Kiba.

"C'mon Kiba, let's go. I don't want to hang around here," Toboe said nervously as he took hold of Kiba's arm and we all started to walk away.

I bristled when I heard the old wolves laughing and jeering at us as we left, and I flipped them off over my shoulder in response.

* * *

"Fucking assholes," I mumbled under my breath as we kept walking, and I lit up a smoke to calm myself down.

"What a fucking joke. A bunch of down and out assholes gave me the brush off," Tsume growled in displeasure.

"Yeah right. You are not exactly one to talk, you know," Hige remarked dryly.

"What hell did you just say, you little shit?!" Tsume snarled at Hige menacingly, making Hige hold up his hands and let out a nervous chuckle.

"It's just...in a couple of years, we could be just like those guys," Hige quickly elaborated.

"This city is scary...doesn't feel right. There may be a lot of wolves that live around here, but this place is really cold," Toboe pointed out depressingly.

"Well, maybe they're right. The sooner we get out of here, the better off we'll be," Tsume suggested.

"Tsume's right. This place is deader than dead, and I'd rather we didn't have to deal with those assholes anymore then we already have," I agreed and Kiba spoke up.

"Where do you think we should go exactly? There just has to be something here, look at how many wolves are in this city. I think we should stay and find out," Kiba told me as we kept walking.

* * *

"Yeah, yeah. Of course I need workers, but everyone you bring me is always too old," the human complained to Zali, who stared back evenly.

"They still get the job done, don't they?" Zali pointed out dryly.

"Sure, but for how long?" the man argued.

"Look, do you need workers or not?" Zali inquired irritably.

"Alright, alright...come back tomorrow morning," the man sighed as he turned around and walked away.

Zali walked away from the human and back toward his mate Cole, who smiled at him.

"Those kids and that elder wolf remind me of you...how you used to be in the old days, unafraid of anything. That fire in their eyes..." Cole trailed off wistfully as she closed her eyes and thought back to how things were simple back then. Suddenly she asked, "Zali, are you satisfied with our life here?"

"Yeah, sure I am. This life suits us all just fine," Zali stated blankly.

"Can you say that with as much pride to those boys and that man?" Cole asked as Moss approached.

"Those kids and that old man went out to the graveyard...I doubt anyone will be able to see them," Moss informed Zali.

"Fine, just keep a close eye on them until they leave town," Zali instructed.

"Don't worry. When they find out that they can't get any food, they won't stick around for very long. Unless of course you wanna train them so they can work here," Moss suggested with a dark grin, feeling eager to teach that old scarred mutt a lesson for fucking with him.

"Leave the thinking to me, got it? When it comes to the pack, we only take care of our business. That's the way it is," Zali warned Moss, who looked back at him in surprise.

Zali walked away and thought about that elder wolf with the large scar on the left side of his face, recalling how when he took off his sunglasses to glare coldly at him, Zali could almost see a broken and tired old man behind that gruff and cold facade. At that point, Zali came to the conclusion that he and that wolf, Jack, were not all that different, just two wolves that were broken long ago by this cruel and hellish world.

* * *

Kiba, Hige, Tsume, Toboe, and I sat on a ledge that overlooked the ocean. I stared at my reflection in a nearby tidepool, seeing a gray timberwolf with a large scar on the left side of his muzzle, his golden eyes looking back at me. I looked up and just stared at the night sky until I heard someone's stomach growling loudly.

"Who the hell was that?" Hige questioned in confusion.

The rest of us sent deadpan looks at him and Hige started scratching his head sheepishly.

"Hm? Oh, it's me," Hige said in embarrassment until someone else's stomach growled and we looked at Tsume.

"Heh, but it was Tsume that time," Hige teased as Tusme scoffed.

"Shit, how do those guy live here with nothing to eat? Standing around a bunch of trash all day and doing nothing?" Hige wondered.

"They probably use their human forms to get jobs and work so that they can put food on the table. Kinda like me," I pointed out.

"That's right Jack, you were a cop! So, how long were you doing that job anyway?" Hige asked curiously, the others looking at me.

"Well... I'd have to say it's been 22 years now. I became a cop at the age of 20 in human years," I explained and Hige looked at me in shock.

"22 years?! Damn, you must have some interesting stories then," Hige said, looking impressed.

"All I can say is that when you've been on the job for as long as I've been, you tend to see the very worst in people and not a lot of good these days," I stated bitterly, taking out my hip flask and sipping from it.

"I can't walk another step," Toboe said out of the blue.

"Okay then, I guess we should just find a place to sleep," Hige said as Tsume stood up and started to walk away.

"Where the hell are you going?!" Hige called out in confusion.

Kiba, Toboe, and I stood up and walked away as well, making Hige let out a groan and yell, "Wait up!"

We eventually found ourselves in a cemetery, looking at the headstones that were either cracked, fallen over, or covered with vines from neglect.

"This will be a good place to sleep," Tsume grunted.

"Well, it looks like...we can forget food," Hige remarked sarcastically.

"This place is giving me the willies," Toboe said nervously.

"We're in a graveyard that's filled with dead people. It's not supposed to make you or anyone else feel comfortable, Kid," I said gruffly as I lit up a smoke.

We walked through the graveyard, looking for a place to sleep while Toboe and Hige looked around nervously.

"Guys, I keep hearing something weird," Toboe informed us timidly and Tsume glared back at him in irritation.

"Dammit. Will you just stop being afraid of everything?" Tsume snapped irritably as we approached a hole in the ground.

Suddenly, something popped out of the hole and scared Toboe and Hige, prompting me to unholster my gun and aim at the hole until I saw that what popped out was an elderly skinny gray wolf with long tufts coming out of his ears. I holstered my gun and put my hand on my chest, trying to calm down since I could easily have a heart attack at my age.

"Ah...motherfucker..." I gasped out slightly.

"Hey gramps, what the fuck are you doing?! You scared the crap out of us!" Hige shouted at the old wolf as the elder took human form and peered at us in confusion.

"Oh, I was only digging a hole for myself," the elderly wolf explained.

"A hole for yourself?" Hige questioned in slight shock.

"Are you saying that you're digging a grave?" Kiba asked.

"Well, when you get to my age, you begin to recognize when your time has come," the old wolf stated.

"You might want to dig a little faster then," Tsume suggested rudely.

"I thought I was a goner too," Toboe breathed out in relief.

"Excuse me, but do you know of any lunar flowers in this city?" Kiba asked the old wolf.

The elderly wolf widened his eyes and exclaimed, "The flower bed that went on forever!"

Kiba looked at the man in shock as the elderly wolf started explaining.

"Long long ago, they bloomed all over this island. But then one day, they were all dug up and now there isn't a single petal left," the elderly wolf stated sadly.

"A long time ago, huh?" Hige mumbled thoughtfully.

"Hey, can you tell us what color they were?" Toboe asked.

"What color? Well, let's see...the color of the moon!" the elder wolf declared wistfully.

As he said that, memories of those flowers that were in the backyard of my parents' house came rushing back in my mind, and my eyes misted a little in nostalgia.

"And what about Paradise? Have you been there?" Tsume questioned skeptically.

"Oh, every wolf goes in search of it, and I myself tried to find it once," the elder wolf stated.

"What'd you do?" Toboe asked in awe.

The elder wolf weakly got out of the hole and gestured us to follow. We all followed the man until he pointed to an opening that appeared to lead into a tunnel, but it was boarded up a little and I could smell the stench of death coming from it.

"Look! That's the entrance over there," the man informed us.

"Ugh, God that reeks! Smells like death warmed over!" Hige recoiled in disgust as he covered his nose with his arm.

"I was kinda hoping it would be a nicer place," Toboe said uneasily.

Kiba looked at the opening and started to approach, but stopped when the elder wolf spoke up.

"I wouldn't," the elder wolf warned and explained, "There have been many young wolves that have set out through there, but sadly enough, not one of them have ever reached Paradise. And what's left for the ones that returned is to seek out a living here...just like the rest of us."

"Okay old man, I think you should call it a day. Don't forget there's work to do tomorrow," a familiar voice spoke up from behind us, and we all looked behind to see the scarred wolf standing nearby.

"I see...well, I suppose I've dug it deep enough," the elder wolf said and started to walk away.

"Wait a minute. When you and your pack tried to get to Paradise, is this the path you took?" Kiba asked the scarred wolf, who glared at him.

"I thought I told you it doesn't exist," the scarred wolf said gruffly.

"Zali," the elder wolf reproached him.

"If you all disrupt the peace of this pack in any way, I'll show you no mercy. Now get the hell out of town before dawn, is that clear?" Zali warned us before he turned around and led the elder wolf away.

After that, we found a caved-in mausoleum and took shelter for the night. I was standing near the opening with Kiba, dragging on my smoke while Tsume, Toboe, and Hige were sitting nearby.

"So tell me, you still believe in it?" Tsume asked Kiba, who glanced back at him.

"Believe what?" Kiba inquired.

"Paradise...there's no such place. They said they've been there, and apparently it was no Paradise," Tsume elaborated.

"Well, maybe what they found wasn't the real Paradise," Kiba said while he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Jesus...where the hell does all that fucking faith come from?" Tsume scoffed while he smiled in disbelief and added, "Anyway, you know it's hopeless. There's absolutely no guarantee that we'll ever reach it either. We'd be dumbasses to keep going!"

"What happened, tough guy? Are you seriously going to let a bunch of old washed-out fleabags dictate what you believe?" I remarked dryly and Tsume flipped me off in response.

"Don't say that, Tsume. Besides, getting angry just makes you hungrier," Toboe reasoned Tsume, who laid down and put his hands behind his head.

"Maybe we should just hang around here and die in the gutter...start digging some holes like that old man," Tsume huffed as he closed his eyes.

"It's not faith," Kiba spoke up, which caught Toboe's, Tsume's and my attention.

"I'm not really sure what it is, but it's always there screaming inside of me...I just have to know. I have get there...that's why I've been running all this time. I can't imagine living without believing in it," Kiba stated in determination.

Suddenly, Hige started sniffing and he sat up quickly, looking at the hole in a wall until the woman we saw earlier came into view with a smile, holding up a bag full of food like a peace offering.

"You all must be starving by now," the woman pointed out.

"Yes, yes, we are, we are! It's very kind of you to notice!" Hige whined excitingly as he sidled up to her like a groveling puppy, earning deadpanned scowls from Kiba, Tsume, and I.

"Ugh, God...screw this, I'm out of here," I muttered under my breath irritably as Kiba was leaving, dropping my cigarette butt and following suit while ignoring Toboe's calls for us.

"Why are you following me?" Kiba asked me stoically after I caught up with him.

"No reason, just needed the exercise," I said simply and I asked, "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Kiba inquired curiously.

"You said you this feeling that's telling you to find Paradise. Is it like a voice that calling you and urging you to go look for Paradise?" I asked Kiba, whose eyes widened in surprise.

"Yes, something like that. How do you know?" Kiba questioned.

"Well...I didn't tell you or the others, but I've been feeling the same way since I found out the truth of who and what I am," I admitted as I took a sip from my hip flask. Kiba looked at me in shock.

"How is this possible?" Kiba wondered while cocking his head in confusion.

"I don't know, but 22 years of experience as a cop taught me to trust my gut, and my gut instinct is telling me that it's not a coincidence," I stated, then we walked in silence until we suddenly encountered Zali's pack members.

"Why the long faces, assholes? Given up on going to Paradise?" the man with the large nose asked mockingly, making Kiba and I stop and glare at the pathetic excuses for wolves.

"It's not safe for two idiots to wonder around by themselves, you know," a man wearing a green dirty ball cap jeered.

"You two should move with your pack!" another man piped up.

"What the hell are you guys doing? Just standing around with no purpose?" Kiba questioned sternly, and the wolves bristled.

"What the fuck did you say, you little shit?" the man with the large nose growled as his pack mates started glaring at us.

"Must be going deaf and senile old dog. A dog without a purpose is beneath a wolf and proud of where he belongs...six feet below, actually," I sneered, feeling my hackles rising under my human skin as I ached to shift into my wolf form and teach these douchebags a lesson.

"Why you ugly old fucking mutt..." the man with the large nose snarled softly as the five wolves surrounded us in a circle and the air became electric with tension.

Kiba flashed his teeth and I put my fists up in a boxing stance, growling softly before one of the five lunged at me with a loud bark.

The man with the green ball cap threw a punch at me but I easily deflected it and kicked him hard in the gut, making him hunch over and gasp in pain. Quickly, I hit him square across the face with a right hook and sent him crashing to the ground. I heard another wolf trying to swing at me from behind and I ducked, retaliating with a roundhouse kick that sent him flying into a wall as I slammed my foot into the knee of another wolf and kicked that one in the face. As the wolf crashed to the ground, I was sent staggering back when I was hit clean across the face with a hard punch, sending my shades flying off my face. I just straightened up glared at the man with the large nose as I felt a black eye starting to form.

"Oh, I've been waiting all day for this," the man said eagerly with a bloodthirsty grin.

"Bring it on, bitch! I'm gonna show you how we did it in my old neighborhood!" I roared out as we circled each other.

The man lunged at me and I reacted by spearing him in mid air, sending him crashing into a wall. I grabbed his arm, smashing my elbow down hard and causing him to howl in agony as I broke his arm and pinned him up against the wall by his vest.

"Whose the old ugly mutt now, you little shit! You fuck with me again and I'll kill you!" I snarled into the man's face and threw him to the ground, picking up my shades and putting them on as the man cradled his arm, groaning in pain.

I went over to Kiba, who was covered in bruises, cuts, and bite marks. I helped him up and we quickly left the scene of groaning wolves.

"Nice work back there...where did you learn how to fight like that?" Kiba asked, wincing in pain.

"Spent some time on the streets from 14 to 19 years old until I became a cop...where to?" I groaned slightly, feeling what injuries I had starting to ache.

"The station," Kiba growled softly as I put his arm around my shoulders to help support him, and we pressed on.

We found ourselves moving through an alley when Kiba passed out, tipping over to the right and taking me along with him since I didn't expect it. We crashed to the ground and I quickly sat up and checked on him, cursing under my breath.

"Dammit kid, don't you fucking pass out on me!" I exclaimed incredulously as I felt for a pulse and I let out a breath of relief when I discovered that he was still alive.

"He's alive...thank God. Damn kids are going to be the death of me," I mumbled under my breath as I lit up a smoke.

An hour later, Kiba groaned and started to wake up.

"Rise and shine, sleeping beauty," I remarked dryly as Kiba sat up.

"What happened?" Kiba asked as we stood up.

"You passed out. Now, lets get to the station," I stated gruffly as I put Kiba's arm around my shoulder again and we headed to the train station.

When we arrived, Kiba and I heard whips cracking and whines of pain, prompting us to hurry until we were stopped by a horrifying sight. Wolves were fastened with harnesses and struggling to pull a sleigh of large cargo up a ramp. When they made it to the top, meat was tossed at them and they savagely ate it, snarling and growling at each other.

 _"What the fuck is this shit...what the fuck am I seeing?"_ I thought in horror, struggling to comprehend what I was witnessing as one of the workers whipped the floor and the wolves started to move slowly.

Suddenly, I saw one of the wolves collapse and I felt hot rage when I saw that it was the elder wolf, who whined as he struggled to get up but then he slumped to the floor and didn't move. When the elder wolf didn't react to the whips striking him, I knew that he was dead. In a bloodthirsty rage, Kiba snarled in fury and charged at the humans. I witnessed Zali dropping down from the balcony above and tackling Kiba to the ground, wrapping his arm around his neck and holding him down.

At that point, something in me just snapped and I completely lost it, roaring uncontrollably while I changed into my wolf form and charged at Zali. I lunged at Zali and bit down hard onto the back of his neck with a feral snarl, claws tearing into his back while my tail rose into the air and savage growls erupted from my throat.

Something sharp and quick lashed out at me from the side, briefly steering my attention from tearing Zali apart and the same feeling hit me again, harder this time, but I was only seeing red and not feeling much pain. Zali suddenly rammed his back against a wall, making me yelp in pain, let go, and fall to the ground in a heap.

"Jack!" I heard Hige call out to me as he, Tsume, and Toboe came rushing over to see if I was alright.

I unsteadily got up to my paws and I, along with Kiba, took off running as the humans chased us.

* * *

Kiba, Hige, Tsume, Toboe, Zali, his pack, and I just stared down at the body of the elder wolf, who was in the grave he had dug before he died. I glared in rage at Zali and his pack mates as I clutched my injuries.

"I thought I told you not to interfere. We have our own way of doing things around here," Zali told us coldly, and my eyes widened in fury.

"Interfere? Living like a bunch of fucking washed up strays, who cling to this shithole of a city?! Who the fuck are you to think that that's a better life?!" I snarled at Zali.

"What the hell do you know about it, you little shit?!" Zali roared at me in fury.

"I know plenty, you motherfucker! You think I haven't been through hell?! I certainly have, and it broke me in such a way that you'll never understand the pain I've been through! You're disgusting!" I thundered at him, horrible memories of me holding my parents lifeless bodies rushing through my mind.

Zali looked away and said softly, "Those kids that are with you...are still young."

I just turned around and stormed away, lighting up a smoke and dragging on it to calm myself as I entered the partly collapsed mausoleum and sat down just as the others walked in.

"Jack...are you okay?" Hige asked hesitantly.

"I'm fine," I said in a tone that told him to drop it.

I looked at my injuries and hissed a little in pain, causing Toboe to say, "You're hurt. Jack, you need to treat those wounds."

I grumbled and nodded reluctantly, taking off my sunglasses, leather jacket, shoulder holster, and white t-shirt, showing everyone my collection of scars on my torso and the tribal tattoo that was on my right arm.

"Holy shit..." Hige trailed off in shock at the sight before him.

"I'll go see if I can find some herbs," Toboe said and quickly left the building as Kiba laid down.

I stared at the fresh gashes on my side, feeling angry in a way I haven't felt since I was in my teens.

 _"They'll never understand,"_ I thought bitterly as I looked up and stared outside.


	7. Chapter 7

Location unknown, California, Former United States Of America, 2214.

"How are you feeling?" Toboe asked as he put on a large bandage on my last wound.

"I'll live...I've been through worse," I dismissed gruffly, then I put on my white t-shirt, shoulder holster, leather jacket, and shades.

"What about Kiba?" Hige asked and we looked at the person in question, who had medical herbs covering his back and torso.

"The herbs should hopefully heal his wounds a little faster," Toboe notified us.

"It's fucking typical. He never thinks first, and he dragged Jack along to get injured as well...damn Kiba," Hige grumbled and I shot him a deadpanned look.

"I can still hear you. I may be getting on in years, but I'm not deaf," I retorted dryly as I lit up a smoke, and Hige held up his hands in surrender.

"I just couldn't watch that without doing something about it," Toboe mumbled sorrowfully.

"Look Kid...what happened, happened. So let's drop it and move on," I snapped coldly, trying to get those images out of my head.

"Still, you and Kiba shouldn't have gotten involved," Tsume stated and I glared at him.

"Tsume," Toboe reproached him.

"Look asshole, I was pissed and I saw red just like Kiba did. I acted like a fucking rookie so just drop it, because I'm not in the damn mood to get into a pissing match with you right now," I growled hotly, having half a mind to knock this asshole into next week so I wouldn't have to deal with his attitude.

"Look, let's just go and get the hell out of here," Tsume said tiredly.

"But...we can't move Kiba now," Toboe said urgently.

"Which is why we should've gotten out of here yesterday," Hige said irritably.

"Whatever happened to "living here had more going for it than you thought'?" Tsume questioned dryly and Hige shut up.

Kiba stirred and woke up which caught our attention.

"Guh...lets go," Kiba groaned out as he struggled to get up, but Toboe grabbed his shoulders and stopped him.

"Wait! You're not going anywhere with those wounds and an empty stomach!" Toboe chided and pushed Kiba back down.

"Well, we wouldn't be hungry if a certain asshole didn't eat all the fucking food," I rebuked as I glared at Hige with murder in my eyes.

"Hey! You were the ones who didn't eat! Cole was nice enough to bring us food and you all just turned up your damn noses. It's fucking rude to let food waste. I had no choice but to eat it all myself, so someone had to do it," Hige shot back defensively.

"You could've left us some," Toboe deadpanned unamusingly.

"Well, you were the ones who wandered off by yourselves, not me," Hige remarked dryly.

"Did you have a good time with your little date?" Tsume questioned sarcastically.

"I don't know. There was something about her that seemed kinda lonely," Hige said as he scratched his head thoughtfully.

"Hmm...so what do we do? We got to do something," Toboe questioned us and Hige perked up.

"Oh! Like imposing on Cole's hospitality for awhile?!" Hige asked eagerly, and I sighed irritably as I dropped my cigarette butt.

"No asshat! Like you getting something for us to eat! By yourself!" Tsume emphasized with an angry growl.

"By myself?!" Hige exclaimed in disbelief.

"Okay Hige...how about I put it into terms you'll understand. Since you ate all the food, you'll have make up for it by pulling your own weight and hunting for food. If you don't do it, I'll take away the one thing you're so proud of," I threatened menacingly as I gestured at his crotch, and Hige blanched as he quickly covered it and frantically stood up.

"Fucking Hell Jack, I'm going! You don't need to threaten me to motivate me!" Hige exclaimed in horror and he ran off.

"I'll go find more herbs for Kiba and Jack's wounds," Toboe informed us and left the building.

"Shit Jack, the look on porky's face," Tsume snorted as he let out a chuckle.

"Yeah...that certainly felt good," I agreed with a ghost of a smile that soon turned back into my usual trademark stoic expression.

* * *

Zali walked through the city's alleys and thought about what Jack said as he approached Cole.

"Moss and the others left to go on patrol," Cole informed Zali, who looked down thoughtfully.

"When did our pack first begin to split? I must've been blind not to see it coming," Zali said bitterly.

"Zali?" Cole inquired in concern.

"Am I the only one who didn't notice that it was coming? Maybe...either that or I simply chose not to see it," Zali scoffed with a humorless smile.

"I need to ask you something. Do you really think that living here is what's best for us? That there's...nothing else?" Cole asked Zali, wondering how things had fallen apart.

After Zali didn't say anything for a while, Cole said, "I thought those boys and that man changed you back into the man you used to be. When they told us that they were searching for the way to Paradise, I was hoping that it would breathe some life into this city."

"Those kids are still very young and that elderly scarred wolf is only following them because he has nowhere else to go. And everything we've gone through is different," Zali stated gruffly.

"No it's not. They are walking down the same road you did...was there really no Paradise?" Cole refused.

"That dream is over...we've already awakened. We all believed that one day, we can go to Paradise...but the group I led...the ones that put their trust in me, didn't find the paradise they were hoping for. A tunnel was filled with toxic gas...I lost...so many of my friends that day. I couldn't bear to lose any more of the pack...I brought back those who survived, and we carved out a life for ourselves in this city," Zali explained, horrific memories of his friends choking and dying around him in that Godforsaken tunnel came rushing back in his mind.

"And I thought...when you came back for me, you'd say we found Paradise. By now, everyone's realized...all the island's machinery is dead. The gas no longer exists! You can go back to the path and try it again!" Cole tried to convince Zali.

"Cole! It's too fucking late now. It's over," Zali reproached and walked away.

"And what about that older scarred wolf that was with those kids?! He didn't seem to know if Paradise was real or not!" Cole called out to Zali, who stopped and looked back.

"He's just going to see those kids die and he'll wind up in a place like this with no hope like the rest of us. But I do know one thing...he's experienced loss before. I could see it in his eyes," Zali informed Cole and kept walking away.

* * *

I kept dragging on my smoke while Tsume and I were sitting outside until we heard Kiba let out a groan. The two of us looked back and saw him stirring. A couple of emotions passed Tsume's face until he rubbed the back of his head in frustration and he stood up, me following suit and we looked at Kiba.

"Hey. You know, we wasted a hell of a lot of time because of you and Jack. The others have gone off to look for food...what were you and Jack up to last night? I know you two didn't get those injuries at the station...not like I care or anything," Tsume grunted out as he crossed his arms and looked away.

"Well, for your information, we got jumped by a bunch of assholes who were looking for a fight," I explained briefly as I gently touched my nose and hissed a little in pain.

"Really? And how did that turn out?" Tsume questioned.

"Well, if you think we look like shit, then you should see the other guys. By the time we were done with them, they'll think twice before coming after us," I remarked wryly and Kiba spoke.

"I saw them once before...when I was little. I was still just a cub...in the region I was born, they had blossomed all over," Kiba said nostalgically, which caught our attention.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Tsume questioned in confusion.

"White flowers that only bloom...under a full moon. They were lunar flowers...they were all burnt to ashes," Kiba clarified and Tsume stormed over to him.

"What the fuck brought this on?" Tsume demanded.

"A fire raged across our land...it burned all the flowers in an instant. And all...all of my friends who tried to escape were cut off and killed...I was the only one who survived. Why me? Why just me? I don't have a pack anymore...the only place for me now, is Paradise," Kiba described in detail before he closed his eyes.

I didn't say anything and just looked at him in shock, horror, and respect. Kiba and I weren't all that different. We lost those we loved due to tragic circumstances and we've been alone ever since our lives fell apart.

"Jesus Christ..." I trailed off quietly, knowing just how he felt.

Suddenly, my sharp hearing heard the sound of a cage shutting harshly and the three of us quickly looked in alarm toward the direction of where it came from.

"Shit, I hope Toboe or Hige didn't caught by humans," I mumbled under my breath as I took a sip from my hip flask.

Kiba started to get up, prompting Tsume to ask, "What the hell do you think you are doing?"

"I'm alright...I can move now," Kiba reassured as Toboe came rushing inside.

"Kiba, are you alright?" Toboe asked in concern.

"Yeah...sorry. You're by yourself?" Kiba asked when he noticed that Hige wasn't with him.

"Where's porky?" Tsume also asked.

"That's just it! He got caught this this really big trap, and the humans took him away somewhere!" Toboe informed us urgently.

"All he has to do is shape-shift into his human form and he'll be able to get away," Tsume pointed out.

"But he can't! He was knocked out by those wolves that we saw earlier! The ones that live here!" Toboe clarified in panic and my eyes widen in fury at what I just heard.

"Why the hell would they do something like that?! Where were they heading?!" Tsume questioned in disbelief.

"I don't know!" Toboe exclaimed frantically, looking like he was going to hyperventilate any second.

"Why didn't you give us a warning by howling? And what the hell are you doing here anyway?! You should've followed them!" Tsume lectured loudly.

"Tsume! Lay off him, he's just a kid. He made the best decision under the circumstances. Now let's go, 'cause I'm gonna rip those motherfuckers to shreds!" I snarled savagely.

"He's right...c'mon," Kiba groaned out as he limped to the exit and put his hand on the doorway to stabilize himself.

"Where to?" Tsume inquired.

"The city..." Kiba clarified as he left and we followed behind him.

* * *

"This is taking too fucking long!" Tsume growled impatiently and picked Kiba up, slinging him over his shoulder and ignoring the white wolf's protests as we all moved quickly.

"Out of the way!" I shouted at a few people that were walking in the city street we were in, causing them to jump out of the way and yell at us as we passed.

"Tsume! You can put me down now! I can walk on my own now!" Kiba told Tsume.

Tsume stopped and put Kiba down, the white wolf limping a little bit and resting against a wall.

"Right...let's get a move on," Tsume declared as he moved his shoulder around and we spotted Cole walking down an alley just up ahead.

"That's that lady, the one from yesterday," Toboe pointed out.

Kiba pushed off the the wall and we ran over to the alleyway, turning around the corner and I snarled quietly when I saw Zali's pack mates, who turned around and saw us, fear crossing their eyes for a second when they saw me until they grinned mockingly.

"Well now. It looks like last night's beating didn't sink in," the man with the green ball cap jeered and the others (with the exception of Cole) laughed.

Suddenly, footsteps sounded out from behind us and Zali's pack started looking behind us nervously, making us turn around and we saw Zali standing behind us.

"Zali..." Cole trailed off in surprise.

"You ordered this?" I asked softly in rage.

"Ordered what?" Zali asked back, glaring at my tone.

"Do not even think about screwing with us, 'cause I'm not in the fucking mood!" I roared out in fury.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Zali snapped defensively.

"Is it true what we heard? That you sold out our friend to those humans?" Kiba questioned coldly.

"Just how low will you mongrels sink?!" Tsume growled hotly, looking like he wanted to tear him apart just like I did.

"What the fuck's going on here?!" Zali questioned in confusion and I could tell that he truly wasn't involved.

"Hell if I know," the large-nosed man lied.

"That guy said to kill him! I heard you tell those humans to kill him!" Toboe accused the large-nosed man, and Zali's eyes widened in shock before a pissed off expression took over.

"Moss!" Zali roared out at the large-nosed man, who flinched and started looking nervous.

Before Zali or anyone else could react, I rushed over and clocked Moss clear across the face, pulling out my gun and aiming at his pack mates that started to approach.

"If you all so much as get near me, I will fucking kill him on the spot! This is between me and him!" I yelled at Zali and the other pack members, who halted and I looked back down at Moss, hissing, " I fucking warned you what would happen if you screwed with me again, you son of a bitch!"

"Go ahead, kill me. If you have the balls, you mangy old dog," Moss dared me and I put the barrel of my P226R against his head, tempted to pull the trigger, but after a few tense moments, I put my gun away and stood up.

"You're not even worth the bullet," I said coldly and walked pass Zali, saying, "He's all yours. Make sure you hurt him bad."

Zali nodded at me and glared back at Moss, asking, "Why in the hell did you sell out their friend?"

Moss stood up and wiped blood from his busted lip, saying, "He's an outsider, that's why."

"Zali, isn't it you whose been selling out your friends?" one of the wolves asked condescendingly.

"What?!" Zali exclaimed in shock.

"It's the truth and you know it. You don't even do a dog's work," the wolf growled bitterly as Zali looked down in shame.

"Is that how you all really feel? I'd always thought that as the leader, I did what I had to do for the pack without letting my personal feelings get in the way. Everything I've done was to protect the pack," Zali admitted and I stared at him in surprise, feeling a hint of respect for the man.

"Yeah, well none of us sees you as the leader anymore!" Moss declared harshly as he and the other wolves charged at Zali.

Moss struck Zali across the face hard, sending the former alpha crashing to the ground and the wolves started to beat him savagely. Kiba and I started to quickly head over to help Zali, but he yelled at us to stay out of it as he brutally got his ass kicked.

"Stop it! For God's sake, stop it!" Cole screamed in distress as she gripped her head and a few wolves stopped, but one was still taking years of pent up frustrations out on Zali.

"That's enough. Enough!" Moss shouted at the wolf, who stopped and they all sneered down at their former alpha.

"Wait! Where the hell did they take him? Tell me where they took their friend, Moss," Zali gasped out in pain, his face swelling up bad.

"I don't know. I don't know!" Moss exclaimed in irritation as the wolves walked away and left Zali bleeding and badly bruised.

"Zali!" Cole exclaimed in horror as she ran over and knelt down to check on him.

"You don't have any idea where they might have taken him?" Tsume asked as we walked over.

"They had him in the back of a orange truck," Toboe informed us.

"If you plan to give up on Paradise and turn back, now might be the time," Zali told us weakly.

"I don't have anywhere to go back to. The only thing I can do is keep moving forward," Kiba stated.

"Even if hell is what we're heading towards...you people may not have been able to find Paradise, but there's absolutely no doubt in my mind that we will," Tsume spoke up, causing Kiba, Toboe, and I to look at him in shock.

"Tsume..." Toboe trailed off in awe.

"Before I met Kiba and the others, I truly didn't know who and what I am. At first, I didn't know that Paradise really existed or not, but I know that deep down inside me...It does and it's just waiting to be found. We will find it, even if it kills us," I stated in determination as I lit up a smoke and the others looked at me in awe at my declaration.

Zali looked down for a second and stood up.

"C'mon," Zali told us.

"Zali?" Cole inquired in concern.

"I can still run," Zali reassured with a wolfish grin and I spoke up.

"Wait," I said causing the others to look at me.

"What is it, Jack?" Toboe asked in confusion.

"We're still dealing with humans, so I think I might have a way to get Hige out," I clarified and I started telling everyone the plan.

* * *

I followed Zali while the others split off from us and tailed the truck at a distance. The plan was for me to force the driver to stop and I would convince him that Hige was my dog while the others would wait until I gave the signal.

"How far is the truck?" I asked Zali while we were in our wolf forms.

"Almost there," Zali told me briefly until we took cover at the corner of a building, peering out and seeing the orange truck approaching.

I nodded at Zali and shifted into my human form, running out into the street and waving my arms. The driver slammed on his breaks and the truck skidded to a stop, the driver and passenger getting out and looking at me like I was crazy.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?! I almost hit you!" the driver scolded at me.

"Sorry about that. I just wanted to stop you because that's my dog you got locked up in that trap," I lied as Hige stared at me with wide eyes, and I shot him a subtle look that told him to play along. He nodded that he understood.

"That's your dog?" the passenger questioned skeptically.

"Yeah, he's mine. He might look big, but he's really a softy that has a habit of either doing something he's not supposed to do or wander off. I've been meaning to take him to obedience school so that he behaves better," I stated as Hige shot me a deadpanned glare.

"Well...if he's your dog, then prove it," the driver challenged me.

I walked over to the cage and Hige played along by panting and wagging his tail in excitement, rolling onto his back and I scratched his belly which made him whine in bliss at the belly rubs.

"Well I'll be damned...that is his dog. Let's get the poor fella out of there," the driver said as he took out his keys and unlocked the cage.

The driver opened the cage and Hige jumped out while the two men looked at me in embarrassment.

"Listen sir, we're really sorry about this. We didn't know that he belonged to you," the passenger apologized sheepishly.

"It's okay, you two were just doing your jobs. Though this fella tends to start humping any female he sees. I have half a mind to get him neutered so that he doesn't one pregnant by accident," I remarked wryly, making Hige look at me with horror in his eyes.

"Hah! He sounds like my brother in-law. Dumbass just doesn't know when to keep it in his pants. Well, take care of yourself and sorry for the trouble," the driver waved good naturally as he and the passenger got into their truck and drove away.

Once the two humans were gone, I whistled and Zali, Kiba, Tsume, and Toboe showed up as Hige shifted into his human form and he glared at me.

"You're a fucking asshole, Jack! And that was so demeaning!" Hige exclaimed angrily as I dropped my friendly facade and stared back coolly.

"Consider it payback for eating all the food Cole gave to us," I remarked dryly while I lit up a smoke, and Hige sputtered as Zali and Tsume roared out into laughter.

After we stopped laughing at Hige, Zali led us to the tunnel that we all saw yesterday and we went into the entrance. We kept our heads low to prevent ourselves from hitting the ceiling by accident until we came across an opening and jumped down into a large tunnel.

"This is as far as I plan to go. From here on out, you're all on your own," Zali stated tensely.

"You mean you're not coming with us? You're gonna keep...living here?" Kiba asked in confusion.

"I don't know if the place we tried to find was real or not, but I believe that there are some who can make it to Paradise...and there are some who can't. I'm convinced in that...and it's time to find out for yourselves if the real Paradise does exist somewhere at the end of this road," Zali told us wisely.

"You know, you don't seem like much of a wolf," Tsume mused aloud.

"Tsume!" Kiba reproached him while I raised a brow at Tsume's words.

"A wolf protects it's own; It's not natural for it to look after another pack," Tsume stated as he scowled slightly at Zali.

"You're right...I guess I really have fallen," Zali mused as he huffed wryly.

"Look...even if you're not, you did help us save Hige, which makes you okay in my book," I said with a ghost of a smile and nodded slightly in respect.

"You put up one hell of a fight in the station. Glad to know that there are still some wolves out there with some fight left in them," Zali said as he smirked at me and nodded back.

"Tch...see you around, Zali," I bid him farewell and Kiba, Tsume, Hige, Toboe, and I shifted into our wolf forms, taking off down the tunnel.

As we were running, I heard Zali quoting, "Flowers are clever things. Even if it looks like they vanished, they never really go away, you know...like a pack of wolves. As long as there's a moon, flowers will never die. And neither will us wolves."


	8. Chapter 8

Location unknown, California, Former United States Of America, 2214.

It had been two days since we had left the tunnel and wound up in a dead looking forest. I kept my eyes open as I puffed on my smoke and felt tense, ready to fight back if we got ambushed by other predators or humans.

"C'mon, runt! Get a move on or we'll leave you behind!" Hige called out at Toboe, who was starting to lag behind. The pup quickly caught up next to us.

"Hey, doesn't this forest seem kinda strange to you? There aren't any animals around," Toboe asked Hige, who looked back at him.

"Tell me something. You do know that you are a wolf, right?" Hige asked dryly.

"Hmm?" Toboe let out a noise of confusion and Hige rolled his eyes.

"Think about it genius, they probably ran off when they either saw us coming or smelled those cancer sticks that Jack keeps sucking on," Hige pointed out as I looked back at him blankly.

"Oh, of course," Toboe said as I extinguished my cigarette butt and went to take a sip from my hip flask, only to curse under my breath when nothing came out.

"This is the problem with taking city kids to the woods," Hige complained, and I shot an irritated glare at him.

"I was thinking. I haven't smelled the flower at all since we left that cave. I wonder if this is really the right way," Toboe remarked as we kept walking until Tsume started talking to Kiba.

"You want to give us a clue here?" Tsume asked.

"Sure," Kiba said calmly.

"Where the hell are we going exactly?" Tsume questioned our unofficial Alpha.

"To Paradise," Kiba stated the obvious and I spoke up.

"He knows where we are going. What he's asking is what the fuck is guiding you there," I clarified.

"I'm going on instinct," Kiba answered confidently.

The rest of us stopped and blinked at Kiba, who was still walking.

"...*sigh*...here we go again...I just wish I knew that we were getting closer. Not that I'm complaining. And what about you, Jack? You seem to be following Kiba's example, so what the hell is driving you?" Hige asked me and I looked back at him.

"I can just somehow sense that we are going in the right direction, even though instinct is a second option," I explained simply and Tsume looked like he wanted to growl in frustration at my cryptic words.

"That doesn't really reassure anything...shit, I just wish we felt like we were closer to actually getting somewhere..." Hige sighed, scratching his neck as I started walking after Kiba and I shot him a quick glare.

"Well sorry if I'm not a fucking adviser, asshole," I snapped in irritation as I caught up with Kiba.

Suddenly, Kiba and I stopped when we heard a shrill beeping noise of an airship moving overhead, and we looked up.

"That damn noise..." Tsume growled behind us.

"That's an airship. It must be one of the Nobles," Hige chimed in tensely.

"Ugh...I hate that sound," Toboe grumbled as I looked behind me and saw him covering his ears.

"Yeah...you and me both, Kid," I agreed while I was grimacing at the loud noise that was assaulting my sharp hearing, and I glared up coldly at the sky again.

The ground shook as lasers rained down from the sky above, making Toboe yelp as he latched on to Hige and we all tensed up. Then the familiar feeling of something drawing me returned full force and I let out a noise of surprise.

"Cheza..." I trailed off quietly in shock, just somehow knowing that she was up there.

"She's there," Kiba mumbled softly as he and I started walking forward.

"Hold it you two! It has nothing to do with us, so stay the fuck out of it!" Tsume warned sharply at us.

"I can just feel it. Do you feel it too, Kiba?" I asked Kiba in awe, who nodded at me and looked back at the others.

"Feel what?!" Hige exclaimed in confusion.

"I'm not sure, but it's so familiar...c'mon dammit, don't you guys feel anything at all?!" Kiba shouted at them before he and I booked it to where Cheza would be.

"Kiba! Jack!" I heard Tsume calling for us in disbelief, but we ignored him.

"The Flower Maiden," Kiba muttered under his breath as we kept running.

Suddenly, a vision of the woman I saw a month ago flashed through my mind and I just knew that she was calling us to find her. Then we saw a small Noble ship smoking as it fell out of the sky, but what really caught our attention was a figure gently floating down.

"Kiba! Jack!" Tsume yelled at us as I heard him and the others chasing after us.

"Wait for us!" Toboe yelped as he chased after me and Kiba.

"That scent..." Hige trailed off in realization.

Kiba and I didn't care about that as we kept watching the figure floating down gracefully until she disappeared at the top of a mountain and we stopped at the bottom of it.

"She's up there...I just know it," I stated as my eyes widened slightly when the feeling grew into a full force that screamed at me.

"Let's go," Kiba ordered as he and I started scaling the wall.

The others followed after us. We had made it halfway up when Hige started sniffing.

"The scent is faint, but it's up there," Hige informed us.

"Why in the hell are you two so worked up?!" Tsume questioned Kiba and me in confusion.

"Look dammit! We can't explain it, so just trust us!" I snapped back in irritation.

"Oh, shit...it's got the stench of a Noble too," Hige groaned uneasily.

Hearing that made my hackles rise up under my human form and I let out sharp quiet growls as I bristled slightly.

"Hey Kiba! Jack! Um...I got this fluttery feeling in my chest! Is that what you two meant?!" Toboe asked us.

Kiba nodded and ordered, "Let's go!"

After a while, we all made it to the top and walked through the forest.

"Oh...I don't know why, but my heart is pounding and I feel all warm and tingly inside," Toboe notified us softly.

"Mmm...this is that cool feeling you get before you pounce on a pretty girl," Hige sighed dreamily.

"Oh, Jesus..." I grumbled under my breath as I lit up my last smoke.

"Don't get comfortable just yet...but there is a shiver up my spine too," Tsume muttered the last part in embarrassment.

"Well, looks like our lone wolf isn't so dead inside after all," I quipped wryly and Tsume shot me a glare.

"Fuck you, Jack!" Tsume snapped in irritation as we reached the end of the forest.

We entered a clearing of beautiful flowers and a lake that was near a ruined castle. The figure that was resting on a rock in the lake caught our attention. Kiba and I let out noises of awe as we saw the figure, who was the woman that I saw a month ago. The woman appeared to be in her mid-teens with light pink hair and she was wearing a light blue jumpsuit that was covering her pale skin and feet, but some areas revealed her shoulders and stomach. The woman, no, Cheza opened her eyes and looked at us with a soft smile.

"It's her...it's really her," Hige gasped in awe.

"My heart just skipped a beat," Toboe muttered softly.

"Who the hell is that?" Tsume questioned in confusion.

Cheza got off the rock and the water went up to her ankles, causing Kiba and I to slowly start walking to her.

"Oh!" Toboe let out a sound of confusion when he saw us walking to Cheza.

"Hold on!" Tsume tried to reason.

Kiba and I didn't listen as we kept walking to Cheza until we entered the lake and stopped in front of her.

"Cheza..." Kiba trailed off with a soft smile before he and I shifted into our wolf forms.

I tensed up when Cheza reached out and ran her one of her hands through my pelt, but years of pain, anger, hatred, sorrow, grief, and exhaustion that was bottled up inside me melted away and I closed my eyes, feeling so relaxed and not even bothered when her thumb traced the scar on my muzzle as she hugged Kiba and me by our necks.

"We meet at last," Cheza said to Kiba and me softly.

I knew now why I was so drawn to her. Some part of me just knew that Kiba and I were to meet Cheza and keep her safe from anything that would harm her. At that point, I knew that this was where I belonged.

* * *

Kiba held Cheza's hand as I walked alongside them, feeling like a great weight had been taken off my shoulders. I hadn't felt this light or like a young man in years.

"This way!" Cheza called out to the others as she looked behind us and waved.

We kept walking until we crossed a bridge and entered the ruins, Cheza leading us somewhere as she started talking.

"This one has been waiting for you two. This one was born right here in this place for that reason," Cheza explained as Kiba and I looked at her.

We turned around a corner and Cheza started running into the room with a look of happiness on her face.

"Everyone! This one is home!" Cheza exclaimed in excitement but she stopped and her smile disappeared.

I looked around me to see that we were in what appeared to be an old lab that was overgrown with dead plants and flowers.

"Oh my...there is...no one here anymore. They...they all withered and died...this one is the only one left now," Cheza stated sadly as she knelt down and I followed suit to hold her close.

"I'm sorry..." I muttered sympathetically, knowing what it was like to lose someone you cared about.

Suddenly, the faint sound of rapid gunfire broke out as Hige and Toboe came rushing in.

"Kiba! Jack! We're in some serious shit! Humans armed with guns are surrounding the place!" Hige informed us urgently.

"I think we're surrounded!" Toboe exclaimed in alarm as Tsume met up with us and he started scowling at Cheza, prompting Kiba and me to stand in front of her.

"No! It wasn't her!" Kiba defended.

"Back the fuck off Tsume or you're going to have a really unpleasant day," I growled menacingly and Tsume started snarling at the challenge.

"C'mon guys, we don't have time for this! We have to escape!" Toboe tried to reason.

"What the fuck do you mean escape?! We're surrounded! Where the hell are we supposed to go?!" Hige cried out in panic.

I pulled out my gun and did a brass check before nodding in satisfaction and I saw Cheza stand up and walk away, making Kiba and I follow after her.

"Where the fuck are you two going?!" Tsume exclaimed in disbelief.

"Didn't either of you hear what I just said?!" Hige called out incredulously and I looked back at them.

"Listen dammit! She was born here so chances are she knows of a way out of this fucking place! Always consider every option before thinking about the worst case scenario!" I lectured them sternly as I looked away and moved to pass Kiba and Cheza.

"Kiba! Jack! Wait for me!" Toboe called out to us until he caught up to us.

I aimed around the next corner and quickly ducked back to prevent myself from getting shot. I waited until the shooter's gun went empty and whipped out of my cover, shooting the soldier in the face once and then used my inhuman speed to quickly run up to the next soldier so that I could slash his throat with my claws. The man dropped to the ground and gurgled desperately for air as blood sprayed out and I saw the MP5A2 he dropped that had a surefire tactical flashlight and laser sight. I holstered my P226R and picked the sub-machine gun, grabbing the ammo from the dead soldier's tactical vest and flicking the fire selector to semi-automatic just as another soldier came around the corner at took pot shots at me. As I fired back, memories of my time in SWAT came rushing back as I took down a few soldiers with well-placed shots and I was forced to take cover as three solders open fired at my location. I kept my head down until the shooting stopped and I aimed out of cover to see Tsume and Hige standing above the dead bodies of the solders that had tried to shoot me. Tsume was holding a large combat knife while Hige brushed the dirt off his hands.

"You two took your sweet ass time," I remarked as I took out the empty mag from the SMG and loaded it with a fresh one, performing an HK slap on the charging handle.

"We're totally fucking screwed! They got the entrance down that hallway completely blocked off!" Hige exclaimed in panic.

"What do we do? If we left her here, we could get away," Tsume pointed out coldly as he gestured at Cheza, causing Kiba and me to bristle.

"Fuck you!" Kiba snarled as he leaned into Tsume's face.

"We're not leaving her, you dickhead! Secondly, there is always another exit. We just haven't found it yet," I stated just as more rapid gunfire broke out and Toboe called out to us.

"Hey, guys!" Toboe shouted as we looked at him.

Toboe was waving at us from an opening and he ducked in, making us follow after him until we all saw Cheza looking back at us and gesturing to follow.

"This way!" Cheza told us loudly until she ran down the hallway.

"Let's move!" I ordered as Kiba and I chased after her, making the others follow suit.

* * *

"Can you confirm how many?" the Army Commander asked one Corporal as Cher was seeing many soldiers either loading up or quickly moving into the fight.

"Information is still being gathered sir, but a couple of reports say that a few of the men saw some boys and that fugitive Jackson Walker," the corporal informed the commander, which caught Cher's attention.

"Jack? He's here? And with some boys?" Cher questioned in slight shock and relief.

Ever since she heard from her ex-husband Hubb that Jack was wanted for murder and that he had escaped the city a month ago, Cher was terrified that something had happened to Jack and she prayed every day for the past month that he was okay. Cher thought about her ex-husband and how she never got to say goodbye when she left the city to look for Cheza. Suddenly, Cher's scanner started going crazy and she looked to see that Cheza's unique signature was really close.

"Is she close to here?" the Commander asked her until they heard rapid gunfire breaking out and they looked at the building near them.

One of the commander's men was standing next to a large hole in the wall and shooting down the hallway at something until three shots rang out and the man's body jerked three times as he fell out the hole and hit the ground just as Jack, Cheza, and four teenaged boys ran past with Jack was holding an MP5A2. Cher's eyes widened in shock as she saw that Jack was okay and that Cheza looked really happy while she ran with him and the four boys.

As the Commander and every single soldier ran into the building, Cher thought that something about Jack seemed different than the last time she saw him.

 _"Jack...you seem lighter and more relaxed. What did you witness this past month?"_ Cher thought as she went after the Commander and his men.

* * *

We kept running down the hallway until we found ourselves in a large room with no exit.

"What the hell?!" Hige shouted in disbelief.

"It's no use! There's no way we can get out of here!" Toboe cried out in horror.

"Well, we could always try surrendering," Hige suggested dryly but he held up his hands and backed away when Tsume and I shot him murderous glares.

"O-or not! I was just kidding!" Hige exclaimed frantically.

I shook my head slightly in irritation as I looked back at Cheza, who walked over to the large tree at the end of the room that must've grown in this place over the years. I watched in awe as Cheza put her hand on the tree and it started moving. Bark and wood twisted and turned until a new path opened up before us.

"This way," Cheza encouraged, which caught the attention of the others.

"Where did that giant hole come from?" Toboe asked the one question that was on my pack mates' minds.

"Does it matter?" Hige remarked as Cheza and Kiba ran into the hole, leaving the rest of us behind.

Suddenly, the hole started to close.

"T-the wall just moved!" Toboe yelped in shock.

"Dammit! Hurry up and move before it closes!" I barked as I nudged Toboe to move, motivating him and Hige to leave as I went to join them.

"Wait!" Tsume barked out as he grabbed my shoulder, making me look at him questionably.

"We don't even know what's in there!" Tsume yelled at me.

I huffed and tried to shrug off his hand, but he kept a firm grip on me and I glared at him in warning.

"Hands...off," I emphasized with a growl as I tried to shrug him off.

"How can you just blindly trust that fucking thing like this?! You do know that you can die doing this, right?" Tsume pointed out as he fixed me a harsher glare.

I stared back in silence for a moment before prying Tsume's hand off and heading into the hole, stopping and looking back at him.

"What's more important Kid, dying with a purpose for something you believe in? Or dying like a cornered rat? We all die eventually Tsume, it's just a matter of when or how. The thing most people still don't understand in this world is not about how you live longer, it's deciding how you want to die. So ask yourself Tsume...do you want to go out as a coward, or as a wolf?" I asked Tsume wisely before turning around and running through the hole. I heard Tsume cursing under his breath as he ran through the opening and caught up to me.

* * *

"Where are those two?" I heard Hige question in concern as Tsume and I headed out of the tunnel and approached Kiba, Cheza, Hige, and Toboe.

"They were right behind us a minute ago...maybe they didn't make it in time!" Toboe exclaimed in panic.

"Giving up on us so soon? We're not dead yet," I announced as we approached, causing Hige and Toboe to look at us when they heard me, and the pup's worried face lit up before he hurried over to me.

"Jack! Thank goodness, I thought you and Tsume didn't make it in time!" Toboe cried out in relief as he latched onto my waist.

I let out a chuckle as I ruffled his hair and smirked down at him.

"You can't get rid of me that easily, Kid. And besides, someone has to take care of a runt like you," I remarked wryly and Toboe started sputtering.

"Wha...h-hey!" Toboe stammered in embarrassment and Hige laughed out loud.

"So, let's get the hell out of here," I suggested and everyone nodded as we began to travel through the forest.

As we were walking, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that Tsume was looking at me curiously and I knew that he was thinking about what I said.

 _"But what are you going to do about it, Tsume?"_ I thought as we kept walking.


	9. Chapter 9

Location unknown, California, Former United States Of America, 2214.

I aimed my MP5A2 with one hand, ready to shoot, and with my other hand I held up a fist as a military drone scouted the area, passing by the bushes we were hiding in.

"All clear, but stay frosty just in case," I instructed as we left the bushes and carefully hiked down the rocky ledges.

I looked back at Cheza once and a while to make sure that she was right behind us, and I could see her following us with a calm smile while she was extending her arms to help with her balance. We eventually made it to a path and I looked back just in time to see Cheza about to walk off the ledge that would send her to her death.

Toboe yelped in alarm and I was about to rush over to pull her back, but Cheza turned to us and headed to our direction as Toboe breathed a sigh of relief.

"She can tell?" Toboe wondered curiously, prompting Hige to look back at him with his hands in his hoodie pockets.

"Well sure, she is a Flower Maiden, isn't she?" Hige replied as if the answer was obvious.

"Yeah, but how?" Toboe questioned, looking perplexed.

A silence followed the question and I stopped to hear what kind of reasoning the "all-knowing" Hige would come up with for this one. Hige glanced at the pup and over his shoulder at me, where I made no response and arched a brow to express my own curiosity.

"She uses her antennae, how else?" Hige replied, apparently unaware of how completely stupid he sounded.

"She doesn't have any of them!" Toboe barked with a frown of disbelief.

"I know you can't see them or anything, but I bet they're there," Hige remarked in a tone as if he was talking to a child.

"Oh, Jesus," I muttered and shook my head.

The conversation would've continued from there but Toboe looked past me along with Hige and they became silent, which made turn around and look to see Cheza staring at us somewhat warily. Based on my 22 years of experience as a cop, I could see Cheza's body language telling me that she was being cautious like she didn't know what to make of us, and it was making her tense.

"I wonder if she's on edge, I mean around us. But why?" Toboe wondered quietly.

"Because you're on edge around her and it makes her just as nervous about you as you are about her," I stated casually while I looked around for any threats.

"Who the hell wouldn't be on edge? She's not a human or a wolf, or even a flower so how are we ever supposed to trust something like that?" Tsume questioned with a cold stare and I sighed at the headache that was coming as I went in front of him.

"Tsume, you did," I pointed out as I moved passed him and he scoffed.

"Me? Trust it? And what the fuck makes you think that Jack?" Tsume huffed, forcing me to stop and stare at the path ahead of us.

I didn't reply at first. I had half a mind to just leave my silence in the air for Tsume to interpret it in whatever way he saw it, but I knew him well enough now to know that he would take it as a victory and it would be a cold day in hell before I let him win.

"You're here, aren't you? Say whatever the fuck you want Tsume, but the fact that you're here means that some part of you trusted Kiba to lead us in the right direction. Kiba trusted his instincts and his instincts trusted Cheza, so indirectly...you trust her too," I responded without turning around and Tsume scoffed as we began moving through the forest again.

"Are we really going to take her with us?" Tsume kept complaining as we moved passed some old ruins.

"Yeah, we are," Kiba humored him while we kept walking.

"What for? Isn't she a danger to have around?" Tsume questioned and I slung my MP5 so that I could take off my shades and pinch the area between my eyes to ease the stress that was building.

"Christ almighty, what the hell are you rambling on about now?" I sighed as I put my shades back on and we all stopped to look back at Tsume.

"If she's stinking up the place wherever we go, won't that just alert the humans to our location?" Tsume inquired and I stared at him in slight disbelief.

"Tsume, are you even hearing yourself? A human's sense of smell is not that heightened, but I guess a simple house pet wouldn't know that," I scoffed as I looked around for any threats.

From the back of the lineup, Toboe groaned and Hige winced at the ugly situation that was starting since they and Kiba knew what was going to happen next. At this point, the inevitable blowup between me and Tsume was way past due, since we had developed a deep dislike for each other and it had become more and more difficult to maintain a strained civility with each other.

Tsume scowled at the name and I could see him taking a moment to compose himself in order to make a reply, but I wasn't going to give him any room to do that.

"Tell me something, Tsume. Are you so used to the life of a human and the dogs around them to be unable to understand just how important this is?" I lectured calmly.

"You going to start lecturing me now, asshole?!" Tsume snarled but I showed no reaction of feeling threatened by the sound.

"You're a wolf now, aren't you? You decided that back in those ruins so you should know just how important Cheza is," I replied while crossing my arms.

"Sorry, but I don't," Tsume huffed and I started glaring at him.

"Listen, asshole, she is the key and she will get us to Paradise," I snapped irritably, any trace of calm gone from my voice and leaving nothing but tension.

"I am getting so fucking sick of hearing that damn word!" Tsume growled and I stormed up to his face.

I was pissed at that point and had had enough of his complaining. He was acting like a spoiled little shit who wasn't getting his way and I really hated those kinds of people. Tsume had been fine so far with the idea of finding Cheza and eventually Paradise, despite a few problems along the way. Now that we were so much closer to our goal and he was complaining endlessly, it was aggravating me to no end.

"The only thing I'm fucking sick of is your Goddamn complaining! If you don't like the way things are going, then you are free to leave at any time and no one will stop you. Otherwise, quit your fucking complaining because it is pissing me off and I have half a mind to knock you into next week in order to shut you up!" I threatened menacingly and we started snarling at each other.

Just when punches were about to start flying, we heard a soft humming and we, along with the others, looked to see Cheza with her eyes closed and head tilted to the night sky. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Toboe stumble back a bit and slump against the wall of some old ruins, prompting me to rush over and check on him as he slid to the ground with a drowsy look.

"Toboe! What the hell is wrong with you?!" I questioned in alarm as he weakly raised his head to look at me.

"Jack...all of a sudden, I'm feeling...really sleepy," Toboe slurred as he closed his eyes and slumped sideways.

"Dammit, Toboe, don't fall asleep!" Tsume shouted from behind me.

"Too late...I'm already asleep..." Toboe trailed off and fell asleep in front of me.

I looked to see that Hige was the next to fall, slumping against a nearby tree and passing out without a sound just as the effects of the song started to hit me. I was on high alert a second ago, ready to get into a fight with Tsume but now I was constantly blinking and shaking my head wearily, feeling heavy and sluggish. My eyes felt like they wanted to desperately close, but I struggled to stay awake since sleeping out in the middle of hostile territory was an extremely bad idea.

"What the hell is happening?" Tsume groaned at Kiba, who was also slumped against a tree and passing out like the others.

"I have no idea what the fuck is going on..." Kiba trailed off and fell asleep.

Tsume started cursing as I clutched my head and realized I wouldn't be far behind. I didn't want to do it, to witness the nightmares again, but I couldn't fight it anymore and felt terror along with complete helplessness as I slumped to my knees and fell forward before I hit the grass.

"Jack!" I faintly heard Tsume call out in panic as I closed my eyes.

"Tsume...shit," I slurred and could feel myself drifting off.

"Jack, stay with me! Shit, don't fall asleep! Do you hear me?!" Tsume yelled and I could barely feel him turning me over.

"Fuck...I...don't think...I can," I barely managed to say and passed out after that.

But the dream I had was anything but a nightmare.

(Play Mercy of the Living by Bear McCreary)

* * *

 _I kept my head tilted upwards and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun shining down on me as I opened my eyes to find myself standing in a field of wheat. I was astonished, since there wasn't anything this incredible in the world anymore._

 _I felt something telling me to move forward and I went through the wheatfield, eventually finding myself in a beautiful field of lunar flowers and I saw two people standing in the middle. The two people turned around and I was breathless when I saw my human parents smiling at me. My Mom was in her late thirties with brown hair, green eyes, and wearing casual clothes while my Dad was about the same age with short black hair, blue eyes, and wearing a dark suit with a black tie._

 _"Mom...Dad..." I choked after I took off my shades and I slowly headed over and hugged them._

 _"I missed you two...so Goddamn much. Sorry for making the both of you wait for me, I just had something I needed to do first. Mom, Dad, not a day goes by that I don't think about you two. I remember how you two and Hubb gave me a purpose in this hellish life and made it a life worth living. You two taught me that there was still good in this dying world, that there was still hope and life should be cherished for what it could be._

 _But when you two died, something in me just...died and I lost hope for humanity in the years after that horrible night. I tried to keep going, to carry on what you taught me about life and love in a world that forgot it...I became a cop like you Dad, in some tiny attempt to make the world a better place, but I realize now that I couldn't because this world is so broken, and that its people are dying._

 _Mom, Dad, I'm sorry but I need a little more time...time to find my place in this broken world that is against me...it's time for me to...to..." I trailed off hesitantly as I looked at them with an exhausted expression._

 _"It's okay, say it," Mom encouraged as two black and gray wolves approached us and nuzzled me as we slumped to the ground._

 _"It's time for me...to live," I declared while tears welled up and I sobbed brokenly._

 _My adoptive parents and biological parents held me close as I let out years of bottled up pain and grief, feeling a great weight lifting from me and I smiled genuinely for the first time in so many years since that tragic night._

 _'This...is Paradise' I thought as I enjoyed the embrace and never wanted it to end._

* * *

I groaned slightly as I was waking up and saw Cheza staring down at me, causing her to smile softly as I noticed that I wasn't wearing my shades.

"You are awake. You were crying in your sleep," Cheza spoke as she ran a hand through my fur, and I let her pet me as I took in my surroundings.

I was currently in my wolf form and still laying in the spot I passed out in but I could see that time had passed while I was asleep. The sun was in the sky now and the sounds of crickets had been replaced with birds. I shifted into my human form and adjusted my shades while I stretched a bit and rolled my shoulders around.

"What the hell happened?" I wondered as I stood up and looked around.

The only other person in the area beside myself and Cheza was Tsume, but he was in his wolf form and currently out cold on the other side of the Flower Maiden.

"You all looked so tired so this one sung you to sleep," Cheza explained as I drowsily went over to Tsume and checked on him to see if he was okay.

From what I could see, he was twitching in his sleep and his legs kicked every now and again like he was running. Wherever Tsume was, he was most certainly happy that's for sure.

"That was you?" I questioned as I met her rose-colored eyes, and she nodded.

So, it was that song she hummed that caused everyone to fall asleep and it must've been her that caused me to have such a peaceful dream. For the first time in so many years, I was grateful and I nodded to show it.

"Where are the others?" I inquired.

"Hige and Toboe went into town, and Kiba is looking for a way out of here," Cheza explained as she motioned her head in the direction of where the scents of humans were coming from.

"I see," I muttered and thought about what to do next.

What should I do now that I was awake? I could stay here and watch Cheza but knowing Toboe and Hige, those two were probably getting themselves into some kind of trouble. I stared at Tsume in a quiet deliberation over what to do, and I came to the conclusion that he would watch her. Even though he didn't like Cheza, I knew that Tsume wasn't going to leave her to die since he would have to deal with me and Kiba if he did.

"Stay here with Tsume, okay?" I instructed and rushed to town.

Luckily, Hige and Toboe weren't that hard to find after I swiped a duffle bag from one of the vendors and put my MP5 in it.

There were three distinct scents in the air as I breezed past people and food vendors selling fruits and other things for humans to survive. There was the sweet smell of Cheza's scent, the stench of humans since I was surrounded by them, and the scent of wolf. With my sharp sense of smell, I followed the last scent while I put my hands in my jacket pockets and turned smoothly into an alley where the scent was coming from.

I followed Hige's scent since Toboe's was covered with the scent of humans and it was much easier to track Hige down. My boots made no sound as I walked through the dirty alley and soon came upon the two wolves walking a bit faster than a casual stroll and looking nervous. I arched a brow at the sight and quickly caught up to them.

"What the fuck are you two doing?" I questioned in slight confusion, making Toboe yelp loudly in alarm as he jumped a bit higher than Hige and they quickly turned around to look at me.

"Jack, it's you...you scared us," Toboe breathed in relief.

I didn't respond at first, immediately looking down at what they were carrying in their arms. Hige was holding something pink close to his chest, though I couldn't tell what it was and Toboe was gripping something with brown fur very tightly and shaking so badly that I couldn't be sure if he was holding a piece of fur or strangling an animal.

"Was it you that was following us?" Hige asked, getting my attention again.

"Following you?" I repeated and shook my head as I added, "I only just found you both...why? Are you being followed?"

I glanced behind me and looked down the alley, but I couldn't see anyone. Even though I couldn't see anyone, my eyes narrowed slightly as I caught the scent of someone who was there and close enough to not just be a random person nearby.

"I told the runt that he was just being paranoid, but he insisted that we are being watched," Hige remarked while he ignored Toboe shooting daggers at him. I gave no indication that I was paying attention to his words.

"Well, we probably are. I mean, with the humans looking for the Flower Maiden, why wouldn't we be?" Toboe countered with a glare.

"If it was one of those Nobles, I would know. This nose of mine would've caught the scent of them before they could even find us," Hige replied smugly while he rubbed his nose.

"Well, you never know-" Toboe tried to argue, but he was cut off.

"Get back to the others," I spoke suddenly, ending the argument between Toboe and Hige while taking them by surprise as they turned away from each other to look at me.

I was still looking behind me suspiciously, and I was none too surprised that I didn't notice the scent before, because it had been masked by the other humans while I had walked through the crowds.

"What? But Jack-" Toboe tried to protest as he took a step forward, but I shook my head as I turned back the way I came from in a smooth motion.

"Don't worry about me, I'll meet up with you and the others shortly," I said over my shoulder and walked away from them with my hands still in my jacket pockets.

I walked at a slow pace as if I was unaware of being followed, though my sharp hearing picked up the sounds of someone trailing behind me. Whoever was following Hige and Toboe was now following me as I moved through the streets. As I walked, I kept glancing behind me but I couldn't see who was following me...even though I had an idea of who it was.

I kept walking until I had drawn the person far from Cheza and when I had led the person far enough away, I quickly ducked into an alleyway and immediately jumped up to one of the rooftops above. I waited as the sounds of footsteps rushing to catch up could be heard and I could see a figure heading into the alley and quickly looking around wildly as I jumped down and landed behind the person quietly.

I saw the familiar blonde-haired woman in a white coat and her scent was unmistakable. Taking in the woman's appearance, I sighed quietly and crossed my arms.

"Cher," I announced, causing the woman to jump and turn around.

I stared at her stoically, not at all surprised that she was here with Cheza being so close.

"Jack..." Cher mused with her voice laced with shock.

"You never should have come here," I stated, not even dancing around the fact since she would be much better off in the long run if she had just stayed home with her broken marriage and test tubes.

"I had to, Jack! I've spent so much time studying Cheza that I'm the only one who can find her and bring her back!" Cher instantly protested, and I suppressed a slight growl at that since it was probably her that the humans almost killed us yesterday.

"Anyway, where the hell have you been Jack?! After Cheza was taken, you disappeared from the city and Hubb told me that you are wanted for murder! Is it true? Did you kill those cops and what are you doing here?" Cher interrogated but I stared back impassively.

"For the same reason that you are, for Cheza," I answered.

"Then you have to come with me because they think that you're the one who took Cheza. If you come with me, we can figure this out and find a way to prove you're innocent of killing those cops..." Cher reasoned as she reached out a hand to take one of mine, only to trail off when I backed away from her and I stared into her eyes.

The air became still between us and realization crossed Cher's face as her eyes widened.

"Jack...you," Cher breathed in shock while I kept backing up.

"You never should have come here," I repeated and added, "There is far too much going on behind the scenes that you don't understand."

"You have her, don't you? Where the hell is Cheza, Jack?! Answer me!" Cher demanded harshly, not even backing down from my cold glare.

"Go home, Cher," I replied quietly and Cher shook her head stubbornly.

"No, not without learning the truth!" Cher refused firmly.

I stared at Cher after hearing that and held back a huff. Cher wanted to learn the truth? How could she possibly hope to learn such a thing when her calculating eyes couldn't even see my true form? The thought of Cher's goal almost made me laugh bitterly, but I took my shades off and Cher gasped slightly when I looked at her with an exhausted and sympathetic expression that made me look far older and tired than I currently am.

"If you can't see it by now, then you will never discover the truth," I stated as I put my shades back on and went to leave the alley as I called over my shoulder, "Live out the rest of your life in ignorant bliss...tell Hubb that I'm okay and that he doesn't need to worry about me anymore."

"Jack, wait!" Cher called out to me as I left the alley and turned around a corner.

I leaped up to a nearby roof just before Cher came running out and she quickly looked around in disbelief at the fact that I was gone without making any noise whatsoever. It would've been good living a life like Cher's since she was mostly unaware of the truth, and the fact that I had lived such a life throughout my entire life until I had discovered that it was all a lie a month ago.

Cher was just above the typical humans when it came to the awareness of the things around her, but even her knowledge was limited since she was teetering on the very edge of a very aware existence, one that might surely destroy her if she didn't turn back. I hoped that she would take my advice and go home, but something told me that she wouldn't.

 _"Something tells me that we'll meet again, Cher,"_ I thought while I was on my perch, sending one last look at her before quickly leaving the area.

* * *

I took many shortcuts throughout the town until I made it back to Cheza and Tsume, who was stirring and he jerked away from Cheza after he woke up.

"Well, looks like sleeping beauty is finally awake," I remarked while I sat down and took out the MP5, causing Cheza to giggle while Tsume shot a glare at me.

"You slept the longest out of everyone. Did you have sweet dreams?" Cheza asked Tsume, who quickly looked away with an uncomfortable expression.

"I, uh, don't remember," Tsume evaded awkwardly.

"I wouldn't say that. You were running around in your sleep just before I left earlier so whatever the hell you were dreaming about, you were most certainly enjoying yourself," I pointed out and Tsume growled.

"Shut the hell up, Jack! And who the fuck asked you?!" Tsume retorted hotly just as Kiba was arriving.

"It's no use, those soldiers are covering every road off the mountain. We're going to have to find another way off this damn mountain," Kiba informed us as Tsume shifted into his human form and headed over to Kiba.

"Next time you two, don't leave it here with me. I'm not going to be responsible," Tsume snapped irritably as he glared at Kiba.

"I tried to wake you up, but you didn't even budge. Besides, you seemed pretty happy wherever you were," Kiba remarked dryly.

"Oh shut the hell up. I was tired, that's all," Tsume lied as he shoved his thumbs into his pockets and walked to a nearby broken wall to lean against with his arms crossed.

I scoffed at his attitude as Kiba came over to us and sat down, looking at me with a stoic expression.

"What the hell are you staring at?" I questioned.

"You were crying in your sleep when I went to wake you up," Kiba pointed out and I looked away while my hands started trembling involuntarily from lack of drinking alcohol.

"So? That's none of your business and it's not your problem to get involved in my business," I told him irritably while I clenched my hands to try and stop the trembles.

"I was just wondering what you were dreaming about, that's all," Kiba assured and I glared at him coldly.

"Then don't because I'm not interested in having a conversation about what either of us dreamt about...it was nothing important so drop it," I warned lowly as I heard the sounds of people fast approaching our location.

I looked at the path to see Hige and Toboe rushing up to us and they stopped to take a few deep breaths.

"Shit, that was rough!" Hige gasped while Toboe leaned over slightly.

"We're back," Toboe panted with a tired grin.

"You two sure took your time," Kiba pointed out with an arched brow.

"Eh, the runt here kept wandering off. Here, some food," Hige stated as he tossed the bag of food to Kiba, who easily caught it.

"We picked up some other things too," Toboe informed us as he unwrapped the brown furry thing in his arms and held it up to reveal a fur coat.

"What the hell are you planning to do with that thing?" Tsume questioned in confusion.

"What do you think? It's a present," Toboe declared cheerfully as he went over to Cheza, who was sitting on a large tree root.

"Sorry to disappoint you kid, but I doubt that she would like it," I stated as Toboe placed the fur coat over Cheza's shoulders.

Toboe took a step back and waited in anticipation, only to look crestfallen when Cheza started frowning.

"I guess...you don't like it?" Toboe asked hesitantly.

"I guess that I was right since she doesn't appear to fancy it," I said with a shrug.

"It sure seems like it," Kiba agreed.

"What'd I tell ya, even Jack says that she wouldn't like it. Besides, these are better," Hige says smugly, heading over to Cheza with a pair of pink boots.

"I wouldn't be so damn sure about that," Tsume said doubtfully with a smirk as Hige placed the boots on the ground in front of Cheza's feet.

I first thought that she would react the same way with Toboe's gift, but Cheza gazed down at the boots and slipped them on her feet. Cheza stood up and moved tentatively at first, but she started giggling happily and danced around with a smile.

"Well, I'll be damned...she likes them," I muttered while watching with a ghost of a smile.

"You like them, huh?" Hige wondered with a grin and rubbed his nose with a chuckle.

The tense air that had covered the area had lessened a great deal and a lighthearted sense of joy showed on Cheza's expression that reminded me of the good times. Cheza stopped dancing and spun around to look at me, her rose-colored eyes brightening in excitement as she skipped over and took my hands.

"Cheza?" I inquired in confusion, wondering what she was doing.

"Jack, come," Cheza encouraged and I instantly understood what she had planned for me.

"I'm sorry Cheza, but I don't dance," I refused with a shake of my head, but Cheza was adamant on getting me to dance with her as she gently tugged my arms.

"Cheza- Ch-Cheza no, C-Cheza!" I protested but Cheza didn't listen, pulling me along and making me dance with her, much to my dismay.

Hand in hand we spun around in such a carefree manner that it was hard to believe, for a moment, that we were being hunted by armed humans. I stumbled around with Cheza awkwardly with an uncomfortable expression, knowing for a fact that I was a lot of things but I sure as hell wasn't a dancer. I broke my arm attempting to learn how to dance when I was 13, and I swore off dancing after that incident.

I shot a warning glare at the others, who were either chuckling or sending me amused looks as I was not used to this and it was making me embarrassed. Suddenly, Cheza stopped dancing and the joy disappeared from her face, the air becoming tense again while she looked down the path behind me with widened eyes.

"Cheza, what's wrong?" Kiba asked in concern and he also looked at the path with a tense expression.

I turned around to see who the intruder was, and I saw what appeared to be an elderly woman who had long white hair and was wearing an old pink dress, sunglasses, and a brown torn shawl over her head. The woman was heading over to us with a wooden cane, walking with an odd sort of grace that made everyone look at her curiously but she was getting far too close to Cheza for my liking.

I unslung my MP5 and aimed at the woman, taking the safety off while Kiba moved Cheza behind him in preparation to defend her.

"That's close enough, so keep your distance or you will be fired upon," I warned lowly, forcing the woman to stop a few feet away from us.

"Who are you?" Cheza questioned and the woman smiled as she was looking at us.

"You are wolves," the woman said in a voice that was as old as the ground we were standing on.

I tensed up while Kiba and the others made noises of shock and disbelief, everyone taken completely by surprise while I had truly no idea how she was able to tell that we weren't human.

"Who the hell are you?" Kiba demanded crossly and instead of the woman answering, she took off her shades and looked at us.

My eyes widened behind my shades as my blue eyes met the woman's red ones, her eyes the same rose color if not darker and I knew that this elderly woman was not human since she didn't have the scent of a human. I cautiously lowered my gun and moved slowly until I stood before the woman.

"Tell us, who are you?" I questioned suspiciously.

"The Hanabito...is what they used to call us," the Hanabito answered.

"Yes..." I muttered as her scent was like Cheza's and I added, "I can tell from your scent."

"But, you are not like this one," Cheza pointed out and we all looked at her.

"That is true, you are not like my kind. You are...a perfect creation," the Hanabito confirmed.

"Perfect creation?" Kiba wondered as I looked back at the Hanabito.

I didn't know what to think about this, the elderly woman's eyes were holding some kind of tragic story I didn't understand and it was making me feel on edge.

"You must know, I've been waiting for you here for a long time," the Hanabito stated just as Hige's nose twitched.

"Wait, that stench," Hige muttered tensely.

"I get the feeling we shouldn't stick around here any longer," Tsume pointed out and we all nodded in agreement.

Wordlessly, the Hanabito turned around back the way she came from and began to leave, slowing down just enough for everyone to understand that she wanted us to follow.

"Let's go," I mused, turning to the others and motioning for them to follow.

"Now hold on a damn second, you're not going to trust that thing, are you?" Tsume grumbled and I sighed in slight exasperation.

"Why the fuck not?" I inquired with a hard expression.

"It could be leading us straight into a trap!" Tsume protested.

"You really have little faith in things, don't you Tsume? We don't have any other options so we either take the risk and follow her, or we stay here and die with Cheza being taken anyway," I lectured, causing Toboe to get in between us.

"Cut it out, you guys," Toboe reasoned while Tsume and I glared at each other.

"Jack's right, we don't have any other choice so let's go," Kiba stated and we all went after the Hanabito.

* * *

The Hanabito, despite being very old in looks and earlier behavior, moved rather fast through the forest as she took the lead in escaping the humans that were chasing us, though no one could see her feet as she moved in a gliding sort of motion equivalent of Cheza's style and speed. Cheza kept up the pace with no trouble at all and I kept up with her just as easily, followed by Kiba, Toboe, Hige, and Tsume as the seven of us moved with remarkable speeds through the thick woods.

We leaped clear over gathering roots and zipped past trees, gliding over small hills as if they were flat ground and tearing through bushes as if they were nothing but air. At the pace we were going, I was surprised that the humans behind us were still able to keep up. Soon, the Hanabito led us to the base of a wide, very tall, and very old looking tree covered in thick moss and flowers. The Hanabito opened up a hidden door and we all rushed inside with the elderly woman following suit and I could see that we were in a home of some kind as I went over to the nearby window and kept my gun ready just in case.

I spotted soldiers rushing into the area outside and they looked around before moving on, causing me to switch the fire selector to safe as we all relaxed a little bit. I could see Cheza heading over to a chair and she sat down before the elderly woman, who knelt down in front of her.

"I felt them within my body...the terrible events that occurred and those Hanabito, who were the unfortunate and imperfect ones, had no choice but to wither and die. I was fortunate enough to escape from the castle and made it to the foot of the mountain, where I stayed in hiding for a long, long time until I became all alone...even if you know nothing about yourself, I do...I know you very well indeed," the Hanabito explained.

"All this time, this one has been asleep and waiting...waiting just for them," Cheza said as her eyes met mine briefly and I nodded with a ghost of a smile.

"The Wolf seeks out the flower and the flower seeks out the Wolf...and yet, no matter how you feel you must not go with them," the Hanabito warned lowly, which caught my attention.

"But why?" Cheza questioned in confusion.

"It will only lead to destruction," the Hanabito stated.

"Are you fucking crazy?!" Kiba barked in disbelief and the Hanabito shot him a venomous glare.

"I wasn't talking to you, wolf!" the Hanabito hissed just as venomously, her voice breathing hate into the air and some unresolved issues seemed to be surfacing for everyone to see.

I could see that there was some distaste for wolves and possessiveness that I had seen many times before during my time as a cop. I saw that things were getting ugly and I was feeling on edge because of it.

"Come on Cheza, let's go," Kiba told her, who didn't move and still stared at the Hanabito with a calm expression, despite the hostility rising up around her.

"The faintest scent a flower can offer is all I have left now...and soon, it too will fade completely," the Hanabito notified Cheza.

"What should this one do then?" Cheza inquired.

"You have the ability to sustain the life of a Hanabito...stay here," the Hanabito explained.

"Cheza, don't listen to her," Kiba reasoned and the Hanabito sighed angrily as she looked up at him to send a look of anger and hate.

"Wolf, just what precisely do you hope to achieve by taking this precious girl with you?" the Hanabito questioned firmly, causing Toboe to flinch at the hostile tone and he inched over to me for protection.

"To get to Paradise," I spoke up quietly and the Hanabito looked at me with softened eyes as I added, "We're going to Paradise."

I knew at this point that raising voices at the Hanabito would only antagonize her, and she was already stressing out Toboe so I didn't want her to scare him any more than she already had. I saw Tsume twitching a little before he glared at the window with a tense expression.

"Quiet," Tsume hushed us and we headed over to the window, where I sighed when a familiar scent hit me.

I recognized the familiar figure of Cher arriving with a device in her hand, looking at it and aiming it at our location as she got closer.

"Who is that?" Toboe wondered while I cursed under my breath.

"That scent, I smelled it back at the castle...I've seen that woman before but I just can't remember where," Hige muttered in confusion.

"Her name is Cher Degre and she was my former partner's ex-wife, not to mention that she was a scientist from Freeze City who was studying Cheza before that damn Noble took her," I explained while cursing at the fact that Cher didn't listen to me, but she had always been so damn stubborn so it shouldn't surprise me that she didn't listen to my advice.

"Well, why the hell is she out here?" Tsume questioned.

"Why the hell do you think Tsume?" I remarked and added, "That device in her hand must be tracking Cheza's life signs because I had led her to the edge of the other side of town."

"We need to get out of here. Come on, Cheza," Kiba said as Cheza stood up and we started planning on what to do.

* * *

After a short conversation, we had agreed that it was impossible to sneak around Cher so it was decided that while the rest of us would distract her, Kiba would get Cheza to safety. The plan was put into motion when Cher was close enough and Hige, Toboe, and Tsume jumped down from tree branches to box her in, startling her as she gasped and quickly whipped her head at each wolf.

"You're the three boys I saw...who are you?! What the hell is going on here?! Where is Cheza?! Answer me!" Cher demanded firmly but there was no response and she spotted something out of the corner of her eye.

Cher looked and saw Kiba with Cheza, Kiba acknowledging her by shooting a cold glare while Cheza was hidden right behind him.

"Cheza..." Cher trailed off as Kiba gently grabbed Cheza's hand and jumped up to a cliff.

"Cheza, wait!" Cher called out to her as the other wolves followed after them, but I stepped into view and she looked at me.

"Jack, how the hell did they jump that high?! Nobody can do that! It's impossible!" Cher denied frantically and I shook my head in disappointment.

"You still don't understand...looks like I have no other choice," I stated and shifted into my wolf form, causing Cheza to gasp in shock and disbelief as she stumbled back from seeing the transformation right in front of her.

"My God...Jack, what are you?" Cher breathed, looking overwhelmed after seeing the man she knew for years change into an animal before her very eyes.

"You never should've gotten involved, now there is no going back. You're starting to see it now...aren't you? This is who I am Cher, and it will always be who I am," I spoke and Cher looked completely dumbfounded at the sight me talking in my true form.

"Jack..." Cher muttered and she reached out as she took a step but I forced her to stop when I raised my hackles and bared my sharp teeth, growling lowly.

"Dammit Cher, you should've taken my advice! It's still not too late to go home and forget about all of this!" I snarled in frustration, pissed that Cher was not listening and going down a road that could end badly for her.

Before Cher could react, I whipped around and jumped up to the cliff in a glorious, inhuman leap, and landed gracefully onto the cliff. I shifted back to my human form and looked back at Cher, seeing her gaping up at me and we stared at each other for a moment before I turned away and left her line of sight. After I had met up with the others, we headed into the city and kept moving until Cheza slowed down and stopped.

"She is crying...she will wither away..." Cheza whimpered slightly which forced us to stop and look back at her.

"The Hanabito..." I muttered while a strange sorrow rose up in me.

"Do you mean the old lady?" Kiba Inquired after looking at me and he gazed at Cheza, who nodded.

"Kiba, can this one stay with you? Is it alright if this one stays with you?" Cheza questioned hesitantly and Kiba's eyes softened.

"Cheza, you have to stay with us," Kiba answered instantly with an expression of determination, and Cheza looked at Hige.

"Hige?" Cheza asked and Hige blinked before smiling.

"Sure, why not? When you're on a journey like this the more the merrier, right?" Hige agreed with a chuckle.

"Toboe?" Cheza inquired as she looked at the pup, who smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Tsume?" Cheza questioned as she looked at the lone wolf, causing the rest of us to also look at him with expectation.

Tsume was quiet for a while at first, but then he sighed and crossed his arms.

"Fine, you can tag along. If it gets us to where we're going, I can put up with you," Tsume agreed reluctantly and Cheza turned to look at me with a nervous and hopeful expression.

"Jack?" Cheza asked, taking me off guard at first but then I nodded.

"Of course, Cheza. I really wouldn't have it any other way," I stated calmly and Cheza's eyes brightened as she smiled at me.

"This one would like to go back, to say goodbye," Cheza told us and we nodded.

"Alright, the rest of you will find a place for us to hide out until things cool down while Kiba and I go back to the Hanabito with Cheza," I instructed, causing Hige to grumble about staying with Tsume and Toboe but a glare from me shut him up.

Kiba, Cheza, and I walked through the city streets and eventually found ourselves back at the Hanabito's home. Cheza headed inside and Kiba and I kept watch. I didn't know if it was me or something else but I've been feeling a form of somber peace...and as the feeling got dimmer, I realized that I was somehow sensing what the Hanabito was feeling and it strangely made my heart clench.

Kiba seemed to notice that something was bothering me and he headed over to me, the two of us glancing at each other while I was tense.

"She's fading...I don't know how, but I can somehow tell that she's fading and Cheza will stay with her until she passes on," I informed Kiba quietly.

"You can feel all of that from Cheza?" Kiba questioned and I looked up at the sky.

"No...I can feel it from the Hanabito. She's accepted that she is going to pass on from this world...she knows that she doesn't have much time left but still, there is some kind of sorrow coming from her...a sullen peace," I explained as I closed my eyes.

Suddenly, I found myself drifting in a void of darkness and I could see a dim light up ahead, floating toward it and reaching out through the light until a hand gently touched mine. Before my eyes, I saw a beautiful creature bathed in white, her hair long and she glowed with such a bright light that I couldn't see her face. Still, I could still make out a smile forming on the person's face.

 _"So much pain...so much tragedy...we are not so different after all. I'm glad to have met you wolf...I'll pray for your safety,"_ a soft musical voice spoke through my mind.

I was stunned that I was actually looking at the Hanabito, seeing her look so young and beautiful like time had turned back for her. The Hanabito grasped my hand and she squeezed gently as something wonderful started to happen. Above the Hanabito, a speck of light broke through the darkness and grew slowly until it shined down on both of us, and I could hear the song that Cheza sang last night. However, it wasn't just one voice singing but millions of them chorusing in beautiful harmony.

"Wha...is this real? Voices?" I wondered breathlessly as I gazed up at the departing Hanabito, who was being drawn into the light and she let go of my hand as she started to pass on to the next life.

 _"The flowers, they're singing...they're always...singing but people...never seem to notice,"_ the Hanabito explained as long and slender arms came out of the light and held her in a gentle welcoming embrace.

With those last words, she was taken into the light and I gasped as unfamiliar memories passed through my mind...memories of tragedy, of loss, and complete loneliness as I soon discovered that I was seeing the Hanabito's memories and felt a connection that I would never be able to explain. Then the light disappeared and I felt alone, no longer feeling the Hanabito as I came out of that vision and opened my eyes while feeling like something in me just changed.

"She's gone..." I trailed off quietly just as the door opened and Cheza left the tree.

Things became silent between the three of us as we stared at each other and I stepped forward until I stopped three feet away from Cheza, the two of us looking at each other quietly.

"Cheza..." I muttered and Cheza closed the distance, wrapping her arms around my torso and she started crying.

I held her close while I felt pangs of sorrow, wanting to cry at the loss of someone who was so alone in a way I understood all too well.

"Jack..." Cheza whimpered quietly as she held onto me even tighter, and I held her even closer.

"I know Cheza...I know. At least you were there for her in the end...at least she didn't die alone," I reassured and Cheza nodded.

"This one is ready," Cheza declared as we let go, causing Kiba and I to nod as we left the area and went to meet up with the other.

* * *

A/N Holy crap, I am so sorry for not updating for six whole months! The truth is that I started to work on this chapter and I had accidentally deleted it, which took away any motivation to update this story and the more time I didn't start working on this chapter again, the harder it got to get back to it.

Anyway, I want to genuinely apologize for keeping you guys in the dark so I hope you all aren't pissed about it. So, how did you all like this chapter? I think I put down some nice emotional moments for Jack and there is a reason why this story has a spiritual genre to it since Jack will eventually face his demons and become a different person at the end.

If you all like this chapter, let me know and stay tuned.


	10. Chapter 10

Location Unknown, California, Former United States of America, 2214.

We all kept moving through the forest and met up with the others, who led us to old ruins and we all sat down on the ground to rest.

"Christ, I'm beat...but at least we have a place to stay for the night until things die down," Hige said.

"I'm hungry," Toboe stated as his stomach growled.

"I'm hungry too, kid, so bear with it until we get out of here," I told him while I kept a lookout, then I immediately aimed down a hallway when a gunshot rang out nearby.

"Gunshots...no way, that guy followed us way out here?!" Toboe cried in alarm and many scents of wolves hit me, putting me on high alert.

"Forget about that shit, we have a much bigger problem than a wolf hunter finding us," I stated tensely while I saw dark figures around us on the ground and the ruined floors above.

"Did your famous "sense of smell" get overwhelmed by the scent of flowers?" Tsume quipped as he looked at Hige, who shot him a glare.

"Shut the fuck up, it's not like you weren't having problems because of Cheza's scent!" Hige retorted as we all stood up and stayed close.

"Kiba, Jack," Cheza whimpered and I brushed my arm against hers in a reassuring gesture.

"It's not Cheza's fault," Kiba defended and I nodded in agreement.

"It's the Flower," a voice rang out and the area lit up enough from the setting sun to show us that the figures were many wolves of different colors that were all around us in their human forms.

I narrowed my eyes as I examined the wolves, seeing them look like people of different races, gender, and ages as most of them grinned but one wolf that was sitting on a ledge had the scent of an alpha and he appeared to be in his early thirties. I stared down the Alpha while his pack members muttered to each other excitingly, and I scowled when my sharp hearing picked up on them talking about Cheza.

"Alright fellas, this is our turf so leave the Flower here and get the hell out," the Alpha warned and Kiba gritted his teeth as he moved Cheza behind him.

"Go to hell because Cheza doesn't belong to anybody. Why the fuck should we hand her over to you?" Kiba demanded coldly and most of the wolves laughed.

"This is our territory and the Flower fell upon us. Maybe it doesn't belong to anybody, but it was meant to be here...right?" the Alpha wondered just as every single wolf around us came down upon us like a furry title wave of claws and teeth.

I dodged the swipes from two wolves and bashed the third one in the face with the stock of my MP5 as I quickly met up with Kiba and Cheza.

"Kiba, we're getting separated! We need to regroup with the others and get the fuck out of here!" I growled as I kicked away an attacker.

"Got it! Cheza, let's go!" Kiba ordered as he took her hand and we started moving quickly.

We headed into a hallway with the others as the enemy wolves shifted into their true forms and tried to attack us, making me knock back a few with the stock of my MP5 and kicking the others away. I snarled in pain when four wolves lunged and clamped their jaws on my arms and legs, forcing me to swing two into a wall to make them let go of my arms.

"Get the fuck off me!" I roared as I bashed the other two on my legs with the MP5 and met up with Tsume.

Tsume was struggling with many wolves that were ganging up on him and I assisted by kicking one away while he was taking out his combat knife, just as the Alpha rushed over and slammed a wolf's head into the ground.

"Calm the fuck down! What the hell are you doing?!" the Alpha interrogated while the wolf under him took human form.

"A-Alpha...sorry, but I was so thrilled that I-" the wolf tried to explain and was cut off.

"Fucking hell...you all got too carried away. Well, I suppose I can't blame any of you since we've been waiting so long for this day," the Alpha stated as he quit pinning the wolf and stood up.

"Yeah, the Alpha's right so calm down, guys," the wolf reasoned to the other wolves and told the Alpha, "Not all of us believe this but...some of the guys say that you've gotten soft since you found a mate and started raising your cubs, Alpha."

"I'm sure that's why some of them left but that's their business, not mine. Why don't you make yourself useful and tell everyone not to hurt the Flower," the Alpha ordered and the wolf took off to contain the situation.

"Your pack is tough as hell but it doesn't look like you have any control over them whatsoever! Are you just going to let them keep trying to kill each other?!" Tsume growled while he knocked a wolf away with a hit.

"That's how they learn their limits," the Alpha replied coldly.

"I don't fucking think so since I doubt these bastards are capable of being rational! Besides, if you lose control of your pack, you might end up in a pretty dangerous situation!" I snarled as I was kicking a wolf away.

"If you're talking about a mutiny, then I'm ready for it because I can handle it," the Alpha stated as he slammed a wolf's head into the ground.

"Do you fucking believe that this place is going to be Paradise? Even though just a glance of the Flower Maiden made your entire pack go insane? Maybe the "Seed of Paradise" you've been waiting for is the trigger for destruction," Tsume told the Alpha while he threw a wolf off of himself.

I was separated from Tsume and struggled to stay alive by knocking away any wolf that tried to kill me, though I was unable to use my MP5 in close quarters and was forced to either kick them away or hit them with the butt of my MP5 as I met up with Kiba and the others.

"Hige, what's wrong with them?! Why are they hurting each other?!" Toboe exclaimed in a complete panic as he watched the wolves tearing each other apart with feral rage in their eyes.

"Just don't look, runt, and keep your ears covered or you might go insane!" Hige shouted as he punched a wolf and yelled in pain from another one latching onto his right arm and biting down hard.

"Are you fucking demons so bloodthirsty that it's driven you completely insane? Don't worry, I'll put you all out of your Goddamn misery," I heard a familiar voice declare coldly and looked to see the figure of Quent Yaiden standing at the entrance of a hallway with a large female black dog that had blue eyes as he aimed his rifle and fired two shots that killed three wolves.

The Alpha froze up in horror before shouting, "Fall back, fall back to the forest!"

"Looks like they can't hear you!" Tsume growled as he was busy trying to get rid of two wolves that had latched on to his shoulder and arm.

The Alpha tensed up and took off running to try and restore order, only for one of his packmates to tackle him to the ground and he started struggling against the frenzied wolf.

"Shit, snap out of it before we all get fucking killed!" the Alpha tried to reason, but the wolves were too far gone in their bloodlust and he was forced to kill his packmate by kicking him off and ripping out his throat after shifting into his wolf form.

A gunshot rang out after that and the Alpha was killed by a bullet to the heart, causing me to curse under my breath since the situation had gone from bad to worse and we all needed to escape this carnage before Quent targeted any of us. Quent suddenly shouted in a complete rage after seeing something out of my point of view and he kept firing his gun as many wolves were either being slaughtered by gunfire or tearing each other apart as I quickly rushed over to Kiba and the others.

"Hey, we need to get the fuck out of here!" I exclaimed urgently and they nodded while running out of the large room alongside me to escape Quent's rampage against us.

* * *

After we had escaped the carnage that was happening in the ruins, we tried to find somewhere else to lay low but we had no luck and night was coming faster during our search which made me feel more irritable since we were dead if we couldn't find a place to hide and the soldiers patrolling the city wasn't making things any easier for us.

I had grabbed a duffle bag and hid my MP5 in it until we were casually walking through the alleys with Cheza in front of us as we were passing a passage that led to the local bar, just as a low growl made me, Kiba, and Cheza stop as the others kept moving and we looked to see the black dog tied up at the entrance while she was looking at us in agitation and standing in a pouncing position.

"We have a friend, even here," Cheza chirped as she headed over to the dog and knelt in front of her, causing me and Kiba to follow as we went to get her away from the dog before she attacked Cheza.

Kiba laid a hand on Cheza's shoulder in an attempt to get her to back away while I reached for my P226R and Cheza looked back with a warm smile.

"It's alright," Cheza reassured and Kiba reluctantly let go while something told me that she wasn't in any danger as Cheza looked back at the dog.

"You do not know what you are...you never did, isn't that right? There's some wolf in you," Cheza stated and Kiba gasped while my eyes widened in shock, though I got a good look and saw that there were honest-to-God wolf traits that showed around her face and eyes while it also explains why she was bigger than a normal dog.

Cheza went to touch the dog and she recoiled with widened eyes before backing away a few steps from Cheza's touch, her jaw open slightly as I was trying to understand what the hell was happening in front of me.

"You were alone your whole life, were you not?" Cheza wondered calmly while staring into the dog's beautiful blue eyes.

Suddenly, my sharp hearing picked up the sound of a few people inside the bar approaching the front door and I tensed up as Kiba appeared to have heard the same thing and grabbed Cheza's shoulder with a look of urgency.

"Cheza!" Kiba hissed in alarm as he forced her to her feet and we started running in the opposite direction.

I looked back for a second to see the dog trying to follow but her leash prevented her and she just simply stared at us while we were rushing back out into the alley and meeting up with the others.

I heard two people chasing after us but we managed to evade them and caught up with the others, then we kept moving while we looked for a place all night to lay low and found ourselves inside of an old wrecked school bus in the middle of a junkyard once it was morning.

"This should be the perfect place to hide," Hige stated with a smile as his fists were clenched in excitement.

"Cheza, you stay here with Toboe and Jack while we go look for a way out," Kiba instructed and we nodded.

"Once we figure out what those assholes are up to, we'll come back," Tsume added.

"Leave it to us," Toboe declared as I took the MP5 out of the duffle bag.

"Alright, we'll howl if anything happens," I chimed in while slinging the strap of the MP5 around my shoulder.

After that, they left to scout around for a way out as we decided to bunk down at the very back of the bus while we waited for them to come back. As we waited, I was standing near one of the windows while Toboe and Cheza were sitting together, then I looked back to see the sun shining down from one of the holes in the roof and its rays were covering Cheza while her eyes were closed and she was smiling peacefully.

"I like this, the idea of friends waiting for other friends. It's a real nice feeling...you know what I mean?" Toboe wondered optimistically and I looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"I guess you can say that..." I trailed off quietly as I looked away and thought about Hubb, wondering if he was okay while I looked back again as I saw Cheza's head tilted upwards.

"What the hell are you doing?" I questioned in confusion as her eyes opened and she sent me a warm smile.

"This one is stuffed...and you two?" Cheza asked us and Toboe lightly chuckled while I formed a ghost of a smile, enjoying her peaceful mood since it made me feel happy in a way that I haven't felt for so many years.

"This way, get those little shits!" I heard a voice shouting and it killed the mood while I gestured for the others to stay down.

I peered out the window after I unslung my MP5 and saw soldiers chasing three human boys through the junkyard as they passed by our location and I kept my MP5 ready just in case while the humans left the area. I waited until they were gone and slung my MP5, looking back at the others while they waited for me to say something.

"All clear, just a bunch of soldiers chasing three kids," I notified them and Toboe sighed in relief before standing up.

"Thank goodness...Jack, I want to ask you something," Toboe said and I arched a brow before gesturing for him to continue.

* * *

Once Toboe had gotten the courage to tell me what was on his mind, I was surprised to hear that he wanted me to teach him how to fight just in case and I accepted it before telling him to pay attention and then we spent half the day practicing until we were outside and circling each other while we were in our wolf forms.

I moved as I would against any other weak or strong opponent, making sure that I always faced my opponent just in case he becomes daring. My fur bristled along my back and my ears lay flat against my skull, then we made three rotations until my upper lip curl in a dangerous snarl.

"What the hell are you waiting for? Attack me!" I growled as I added in a slight bark and a snap of my teeth, causing Toboe to hesitate in following through with my demand since he found my display intimidating.

"Go on, I dare you...or are you too much of a fucking wimp to make the first move," I goaded and that made him react since taking a shot at a wolf's pride can get them to do pretty much anything.

Toboe crouched in a stance that told me he was ready to strike before he snarled loudly at me and sprung forward in a lunge at me. I could've dodged the attack and countered with a strike that could've killed him, but that wasn't the purpose of what we were doing. If I was in my human form, I would've smirked darkly at the incoming attack but I settled for a wolfish grin while I got ready.

Just as Toboe came close to latching onto my neck, I kicked up a wave of dirt and it hit Toboe which caused him to yelp as loud as he possibly could and he faltered before dropping down in front of me and rubbing his paws over his eyes to get rid of the dirt that was trapped in them. Taking advantage of the opening, I snarled as I lunged forward with my blood running hot at the thrill of taking down my prey.

Toboe let out a surprised yelp as I pounced him until we were tumbling together in a cloud of kicked up dirt and sand, the sounds of more yelps and growls ringing throughout the junkyard until a final loud thump sounded out and it became silent after that.

When the dust settled and cleared up, we were in our human forms while I kept Toboe pinned to the ground by sitting on him and I felt him struggling to get loose as I looked down at him with an arched brow.

"Not bad, you nearly got me a couple of times but you still have a long way to go before you can take me or the others down. We've been at this for half a day so are you sure you want to keep going?" I inquired and Toboe looked up with a glare.

"Yes!" Toboe replied sharply and I was slightly concerned that he still wanted to keep fighting me.

"Are you sure? You didn't last long so maybe we should take a break, alright?" I offered, knowing that things like this took time and it wasn't wise to keep pushing yourself to exhaustion.

With my harsh experiences from growing up in the streets during my teenaged years and getting into plenty of fights that gave me most of the scars that were on my back and torso, I knew that knowledge all too well and now we had time to rest and learn from our mistakes but this time, we were dealing with other threats that were more dangerous than humans and we would wind up dead if we weren't careful.

"No, I'm fine so just give me a minute!" Toboe protested as he managed to look up at me and I saw the full extent of the damage my counter-attack had done to him.

Toboe had not been successful in getting the sand out of his eyes because they were shut tight with tears beginning to form in the corners as his eyes watered and tried to flush the foreign objects out, then I noticed that the skin around both eyes was red as he swiped at his face to try and get the irritant out of them as I frowned and felt concern while getting off of him and letting him sit up so that I could help him.

"Toboe, there's no shame in wanting to take a break now and then...you're just starting to learn on how to defend yourself and there's a lot to teach you so you can't expect to be perfect on your first attempt, do you?" I told him as I was gently brushing his eyes and blowing on them to clear out the excess sand that was still trapped in them.

"But Kiba and the others-" Toboe tried to say and I shook my head.

"Are grown wolves with their own experiences out in the wild and I've been training myself daily ever since discovering my true self a month ago and as much as you hate to admit this, Toboe, you are the cub among us with no experience after being away from your human owner and you expect to start with the skills and strength of a wolf twice your age?

It doesn't work like that," I lectured him calmly after removing my shades and looking at him sternly once I was done removing the sand from his eyes, then Toboe looked down with a solemn expression and I softened my eyes.

"But I want to be strong...now that we have Cheza with us, humans are coming after us and so are other wolves after what just happened last night. This is going to keep happening to us, isn't it?" Toboe inquired quietly and I frowned deeply as I put my shades back on and recalled those pack of wolves butchering each other last night.

After everything that happened for the past few days, there was no denying that we would have a big target on our backs now that we had Cheza with us since the humans would never stop hunting us until we were dead and they had Cheza again and unlike the hostile townspeople we encountered a while ago who had shotguns and hunting rifles, the soldiers that were after us were better equipped with military hardware and explosives while I wouldn't be surprised they had prewar helicopters and tanks that could rip us apart easily if they get desperate enough.

What concerned me was the fact that wolves would also be after us because of Cheza and despite the humans being armed with firearms and explosives that could easily kill us, wolves were even more dangerous since they were unpredictable and attacked in an organized group while using greater numbers and speed against their enemies to overpower and slaughter them...the thought of wolves butchering us and taking Cheza made me tense as I looked pensive.

"If I get much stronger even quicker, Jack, then I can help you guys instead of standing back and letting you protect me all the time," Toboe explained and I sighed as I rested a hand on his shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"But you do help us by staying with Cheza to keep her safe and that's an important job," I reassured with an encouraging nod, though I could still see the doubt in his eyes and it wasn't as big as before as I stood up and held out a hand.

Toboe took my hand and I helped him up before we headed back inside the bus and waited for the others to come back.

* * *

After we waited for a couple of hours, I took a break by getting some shut-eye so that I would be more alert and woke up later in the day to see that Toboe and Cheza were gone.

"Toboe, Cheza, where the fuck are..." I started to wonder as I stood up and trailed off to see them hiding behind one of the seats and I walked over to investigate what they were doing.

"What the hell are you two doing?" I questioned in confusion since my sharp sense of smell didn't detect any humans around, only Toboe grabbed my arm and pulled me down next to him while I was sending him a puzzled look.

Toboe shushed me and I decided to play along until I picked up Kiba's scent getting closer and entering the bus, prompting Toboe and Cheza to jump out in an attempt to scare him while I stood up to see him looking unphased and Toboe chuckled sheepishly as he grinned nervously.

"Just so we're clear, I wasn't involved in this," I stated as I brushed myself off and walked out from behind the seat.

"What took you so long?" Toboe asked as he rested his hands on the back of his head, just as Hige entered the bus and I greeted him with a single nod.

"Welcome back, so did you find anything?" I inquired and Hige looked at me while his hands were in his hoodie pockets.

"They've got the entire place covered so our only option is to move at night," Hige reported and Kiba nodded before looking at the rest of us, which told me he found something that could get us out of this situation.

"There's a place not too far from here that the local humans here call the Forest of Death," Kiba informed us and I made a face at the name.

"Sounds cheery," I remarked dryly while Toboe appeared uncomfortable at what our next destination is.

"Yeah...I don't like the sound of that," Toboe admitted uneasily while hugging himself and I rested a hand on his shoulder.

"They say that the place was heavily irradiated after the nuclear war happened 200 years ago and if you get lost in it, you never come out," Kiba elaborated and I adjusted the strap of my MP5.

"Even so, we don't have any other options and our sharp sense of smell will help us get out faster while I'm sure the lethal radiation cleared up after all this time," I pointed out and Hige smiled.

"Jack's right, we'll be out of there soon enough with our noses," Hige agreed just as Tsume entered the bus and we looked at him.

"What are our chances?" Kiba asked the gray wolf and we all waited what he had to say.

"I found an escape route that'll be perfect for us," Tsume notified us and I nodded as I leaned against the wall with my arms crossed.

"That settles it, we leave tonight so get some rest while you can," I instructed and we all hunkered down for the time being until it was nightfall.

Before the sun set on us, we had left the junkyard so the soldiers didn't find us there and now we had separated into two groups with one heading to the Forest of Death while the other took care of the soldiers so that they would be too disorganized and combat ineffective to come after us so now Tsume, Hige, and I were just outside the humans' main base while two soldiers had their backs turned to us as they chatted on their radios.

"Hmm...there's only two of them so they should be easy to take care of," I muttered to the others and they nodded just before Tsume split up from me and Hige, then we silently jumped down until we were standing behind the soldiers as one of them was contacted by who seemed to be the one in charge of the operation.

"Copy that," the soldier said and notified his friend, "The Commander has reported that they lost them."

Just as he said that, Hige tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention and he turned around to see us while Hige smirked.

"Who got away?" Hige taunted, causing the soldier and his friend to aim at us in alarm but Hige killed one of them and the other reached for his radio in a panic.

"We have positive contact! They're-" the other soldier reported frantically and he was shot dead by two rounds from my MP5 as the gunshots alerted the entire base with five soldiers rushing out of one of the tents and aiming at us.

"Take them out!" one of the soldiers ordered and they opened fire at us as I moved fast and fired back, killing three soldiers with expert accuracy as I knocked one soldier down with a nasty strike by the stock of my MP5 and executed him with a shot to the face.

"Jack, come on!" Tsume called out and I spotted him and Hige on a ledge overlooking the base, prompting me to jump and I shot up to the ledge while I felt a bullet graze my right cheek and growled in pain as I landed on the ledge and clutched my cheek with a peeved expression.

"Are you okay?!" Hige questioned over the gunfire and I waved my free hand to assure him.

"I'm fine, one of those fuckers grazed me!" I reassured just as I looked back and my eyes widened when I saw one of the soldiers aiming an RPG at us.

"Shit, move it!" I alerted urgently and we immediately took off just as I heard the sound of the RPG firing and an explosion rang out as the rocket struck the ledge we used to be standing on.

"Was that a fucking rocket?! Do they seriously want us dead that bad that they're willing to shoot rockets at us?!" Hige exclaimed incredulously as we kept moving and made sure to distract the soldiers.

"Don't worry, we won't have to deal with them again once we escape into the Forest of Death!" I declared as I fired at the soldiers and killed a few with well-placed shots just as the sound of Toboe howling got our attention.

"Hey, time to go!" Tsume announced as he met up with us and I nodded while he ran on ahead.

"Agreed, now let's get the fuck out of here!" I agreed as we jumped out of the line of fire and Hige tapped my shoulder while we were running.

"Quick question, are you having fun right now?" Hige inquired and I looked thoughtful until I stared at him pensively.

"I don't like killing anyone, but I know it's necessary if I want to stay alive," I replied grimly and Hige made a face at that.

"Jesus, you're really gloomy about everything," Hige stated and I looked away from him.

"That's what they always say," I said and the conversation ended there as we met up with Tsume and headed to where the others were waiting until we jumped down from a ledge and landed in front of the others.

"Sorry we're late, had to take a detour," Tsume said as he put his hands in his pockets.

"Operation successful," Hige declared with a thumbs up and I checked my ammo before nodding in satisfaction.

"Alright, let's get the hell out of here before something else happens," I chimed in and just as I said that, a gunshot rang out and Toboe yelped as a bullet struck the ground next to his foot before we quickly looked up and saw Quent aiming at us with a look of pure rage.

"You damn wolves, you won't fuck with my head again!" Quent bellowed in fury as he fired his rifle again, causing all of us to scatter to prevent getting shot and I cursed under my breath since he had the high ground and it was going to be difficult shooting him because of his continuous attempts to kill us.

I was right behind Cheza and Kiba when the Flower Maiden tripped on a tree root and fell while letting go of Kiba's hand, causing me to feel seriously alarmed as she hit the ground and Kiba looked back.

"Cheza!" Kiba exclaimed in horror and I saw Quent aiming at her before I reacted by rushing over in front of her with my arms open as a shield.

Quent fired his gun and a loud yell of pain exited my mouth after getting shot in the shoulder while my body instinctively flickered to my wolf form for a second before I was sent spinning to the ground from the force of the large-caliber round, causing Kiba to run over and he forced me up to my feet after putting my good arm around his shoulder and we quickly rushed into the forest with Cheza right behind us after I heard that his gun was empty but we somehow got separated from her during our escape.

As we kept running, I heard Quent roar in outrage as he fired again but it seemed that he was only doing it to let out his frustrations as we ran and managed to stop in a clearing once we were far enough away from the human that wanted us dead and Kiba helped me sit down against a dead white tree while I groaned.

"Argh...fuck!" I snarled while clutching my shoulder and keeping pressure on it to prevent myself from bleeding out.

"Where were you hit?" Kiba asked as he kneeled in front of me and I moved my hand so that he could see the bullet hole before I covered it again with my hand and felt that the bullet was still in my shoulder.

"Guh, I can still move my fingers and arm slightly so the round didn't sever a nerve...where the hell are the others?" I wheezed as I grimaced from the red hot pain that was running through my arm.

"I don't know, we got separated during the confusion. That looks bad so are you okay to move?" Kiba asked in concern and I huffed.

"I'll be fine, it's not my first time getting shot so just give me a minute to catch my breath," I assured while I slumped against the tree with my head down.

"Alright, we have time so get all the rest you need and then we'll look for the others before we get out of here," Kiba said and I nodded while gritting my teeth and trying to keep myself calm so that I wouldn't bleed out even faster.

* * *

A/N I'm back everyone! Ugh, I hate leaving you all in the dark like that so I hope this new chapter makes up for it...so, looks like Jack got shot again but the bullet is still in him and they need to get it out before he suffers from lead poisoning...just not his lucky day, am I right?

As you can already tell, I'm using a couple of scenes from the manga that went off in a different direction than what was seen in the anime but the one with the hostile town and the pack of wolves killing each other is all that I'm putting down in this story so it'll be the anime from now on.

Let me know what you think about this chapter and stay tuned.


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